Hell is Empty, All the Devils are Here
by slyfoxcub
Summary: Something is not right in the Sawada household. Tsuna and his Guardians are capable, having been trained by Iemitsu himself. But Reborn is unsettled; their competence borders on eerie, and he has yet to hear Tsuna speak a word. Abused!Tsuna/10thGen Brotherly!Dino Shameless Fluff.
1. Chapter 1

**Hell is Empty, All the Devils are Here**

 **Ah, my first KHR! plot-bunny. I haven't seen this before, so I think this might be a new take. Hopefully this gets adopted, because I would like to see how it would grow up.**

 **This is based off the story** The Difference Between **, but far this is far less dark. This is an Abused!Tsuna/10thGen story as well, but more emotional/social neglect.**

 **Only read The Difference Between if you have a strong stomach for full-on manipulation, physical abuse of children, brainwashing, psychotic breaks, outright cold-blooded murder and enough dramatic irony to make you scream in anguish at whatever device you read fanfiction on.**

 **Blurb:** Something is not right in the Sawada household. The Varia looms on the distant horizon, but Reborn is more unsettled by Tsunayoshi's eerily competent Guardians and that he hasn't heard the Vongola Heir utter a single word this whole time.

 **Theme Song: Numb by Linkin Park**

* * *

Reborn carefully considered the information Iemitsu had given him about his own son. The boy seemed to be the opposite of the Cavallone boy. A full Guardian set, for one. But that was not all.

 _'My little tuna-fishie is so cold! I walked him through his first kill, but he was blank! No emotion whatsoever! Just disappeared off with his Guardians!'_

Iemitsu was a ditz, yes, but not nearly enough to not notice if his son had killed before. One of those humans who simply had no empathy for those they deemed unworthy? Maybe. That attitude was a double-edged sword for a Boss. An edge that Reborn would have to temper.

 _'Like calls to like when it comes to Guardian bonds, you know that. Who does my son have? A homicidal psychopath Mist, another Mist who's a shrinking violet, a destructively hyperactive Sun, a perpetually-daydreaming Rain, a rabid Storm, a bratty useless Lightning and a feral Cloud who attacks everyone on sight!'_

Certainly something to be concerned about; Guardians did reflect their Sky. Reborn could definitely hold his own though, no matter how well these brats had been trained by Iemitsu.

At least the fool hadn't gone through with the plan to seal his son's _Active Sky Flames._ Reborn had damn near shot the idiot when he heard about that. If the CEDEF Commander had been dropped on his head as a baby, the World's Greatest Hitman wouldn't be surprised.

At least it was a solid plan of introduction. Iemitsu would introduce him to the brats before immediately taking his wife on a two-week vacation to the other side of Japan. Two weeks for Reborn to get some asses in gear. More than enough.

* * *

The Sawada residence was thick with Sky Flame residue and Reborn felt a sudden pang of longing for a Sky to come home to. No; concentrate on the brats.

Nana Sawada was sickeningly naïve. After Iemitsu broke the 'wonderful news' about the two week vacation, she busied herself preparing tea and baked treats. Iemitsu quietly led Reborn up the stairs. The Sky Flames retreated cautiously as they ascended, curling protectively around now-discernable Guardian Flame-bonds.

"Ah, Reborn, why don't you introduce yourself while I make a few phone-calls?" Iemitsu smiled. "Maybe shake them up a bit as I know you like to do to people? They're dead set against me, so I'd rather not mar the first impressions."

The tiny hitman kicked the bedroom door down and was met with...nothing. In a Flame sense. No spikes of emotion, of Flames, no shouts or questions. The Flames of all eight children were oddly still, yet agitated, as if...boiling.

Physically, they were all looking directly at him, expressions unreadable. They were positioned unusually as well; barricading in the Sun. The boxer stood in the middle, fists at the ready, Tsuna next to him and the other Guardians arrayed in front. Protecting each other but for some reason their Sun most of all.

"Now then, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn pioneered, taking a step forward.

The wall of Flames that shot up in front of him was staggering. Not in strength, but in it's seamless blending of the seven Flame-types.  
The Sky Flames' reaction unbalanced Reborn the most. His entire life as a Mafioso, Skies had tried to pull him in, cranking up the Harmony factor to the max. These Flames were _rejecting_ him. Pushing him away, snarling and spitting with the Harmony using itself to become a _lack_ of Harmony.

And their body language spoke, not of fury or protection, but rather the bitter, resigned satisfaction that they would make their deaths _cost dearly._

Reborn may not have had the Vongola Hyper Intuition, but he had his gut instincts that had always served him well. Right now, they were _screaming._ Screaming not to assert his superiority and beat them down. Because now he looked, they seemed very fragile, like they would break and rage uncontrollably if he stepped towards them again.

* * *

Tsuna always slept with his Guardians, Reborn noticed. They would pile together on the bed like a pack of puppies deprived of their mother, despite how uncomfortable it must be. The taking watch was unusual. He didn't know for sure if this was habit for them or if it was because of his unfamiliar presence. Any conversation was subdued and inane, though so deliberately worded it had to be some sort of code.

It did Reborn's ego good at first to be treated with the respect and wariness one would give a dangerous predator, having been enduring being treated as a toddler for so long, but it quickly became unsettling. They took great pains to keep him in their sights and never let Tsuna or Ryohei Sasagawa go anywhere alone. They had the wariness of beaten animals.

And something niggled constantly in the back of Reborn's head. Tsuna was continuously leaching out Sky Flames; with a purpose. But what was he trying to accomplish? Every time he asked the Vongola Heir a question, he got a satisfactory answer despite the guarded demeanour...hold on.

The answers were always bland and satisfactory. But...why couldn't he remember the exact words? There had been no Flames around when he had cornered Tsuna without his Guardians, and his own Sun Flames were too strong for his mind to be tampered with without him noticing. He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Only his Sun and Tsuna's Sky Flames were present, he was certain. Tsuna had had his Harmony factor up and had answered...answered,...but...Reborn examined his memories with a fine-toothed comb.

The fluffy brown hair, the alarmed, then guarded, expression, the bruise on the left cheek from the morning's training, the miniscule emotions flitting across his face as he... didn't speak.

The proverbial lightning bolt struck Reborn dead on. Tsuna had not spoken a word. But how...Harmony. That's why it was up when it had been repelling him before. What was Harmony but encouraging acceptance, blending in, being unnoticed? Tsuna had given Reborn the impression that Tsuna had answered the question, everything was normal, never notice that he never actually said anything.

That was _devious._ Reborn approved highly. But that realisation made him recall all his other memories, only for him to realize that Tsuna _never_ spoke, even to his Guardians. They aquiesced to his wishes(somehow), Tsuna made people think that they had heard commands being issued and their minds filled in the rest. Useful on the battlefield, useful when avoiding questioning. But not _all the time._ So why...?'

Sickening dread coiled in the hitman's stomach. Was the Vongola Heir...mute?

* * *

It took only a day for Reborn to confirm his hypothesis; Tsuna was mute. He suspected that the boy was using his Harmony trick to plant his words into his Guardians' heads, impressing that he had already told them what he wanted them to do, as he had with Reborn. It probably worked even better considering he was bonded to them. That way he could guide them even if they were far apart from him.

Ingenious, truly. Still didn't explain why and how they moved eerily in sync with each other, always moving in the right way as if they were part of the same person rather than completely separate people whose differing personalities should have meant conflict or weakness of some sort.

And why were they so protective of Ryohei Sasagawa?

* * *

He found out the answer to his second dilemma when he pulled the young boxer away for healing training. The boy was silent as he pushed himself harder and harder, agonizing over every detail but still staying tense and wary of Reborn the whole time. When he made a few minor mistakes from sheer exhaustion, he looked ready to cry and his eyes held the visceral fear of a man facing the firing squad.

Without even thinking, Reborn raised gun-Leon in preparation to fire a rubber bullet or two, just to snap the boy out of it. That was when Tsuna appeared in front of him, eyes the searing orange of Hyper Dying Will Mode, cratering the ground with his bare hands in the spot Reborn had been just a split-second before.

 _ **'NO!'** _Harmony screamed into Reborn's head and he blinked in shock at _actual words_ being projected, before he registered the other Guardians running in, eyes glowing with Flames and defiance. And then they _moved._ Not like a full Guardian set raging together, but silently, vengefully and in impossibly perfect synchronisation. Unnaturally perfect. Then they started speaking and Reborn felt a chill run down his spine.

 _"Go away!"_ they yelled in perfect chorus, same inflection, volume, pronunciation and everything. Even as Reborn fought them off with hammer-Leon, he resisted the urge to just flatten them as he usually would have, because they were finally sort-of explaining their protection of their Sun. All in chorus, with the mental reverberation of Tsuna's Harmony Words underneath.

 _"Don't want you!"_

 _"Hate you!"_

 _"No more, not again!"_

 _"Hurts!"_

 _"He's mine!"_

 _"Knew you would try and kill him!"_

 _"Don't want your bond!"_

What. Reborn's mind stuttered in consternation. They were convinced that he was going to kill Sasagawa to replace him as Sun. That these thoughts were fuelled from someone actually trying it before. No doubt they had been waiting for the shoe to drop the entire week he'd been here. The knowledge that he was the World's Greatest _Hitman_ obviously only exacerbated the situation.

Running through ideas in his head, Reborn made a calculated decision and threw Leon away into the trees. The kids jumped back, circling in wary confusion.  
"I'm not trying to replace, or kill, any of you," he called. "I'm here as a tutor, not as a job."

 ** _'_** _ **Truth.'**_ He felt Harmony Words tinged with Lightning echo through the Flame-saturated clearing. They all drew back, gravitating to Tsuna and each other as they mingled their Flames until they were almost one white blaze. Reborn suspected that Tsuna was holding entire conversations with them, but they seemed to be focusing on the Bovino brat who was gesticulating wildly, but still as silent as the rest.

After a moment, Tsuna walked over to him, hand wreathed in gently coiling Sky Flames. Reborn forced himself to still, but stayed alert. He did not expect that the moment the Flames touched his forehead the world would vanish into white.  
"Hello," said Tsuna, smiling wistfully. "Welcome to Haven."

Reborn started at Tsuna's voice, at him speaking, only to gape as he looked down and saw his _adult_ body. "What!" He spluttered. "How? And you..." His own voice trailed off as he took in Tsuna's appearance.  
The teen's chest and torso were swathed in bandages, one eye was taped with gauze and his face was gaunt and ribs protruding alarmingly from extreme malnutrition. Judging from the spots of fluid seeping through the bindings, they were bad burns, maybe second degree.

Immediately Reborn knelt, now that he was somehow taller and urgently pressed his Sun Flames to the injuries. Except that his Flames didn't register the wounds as even existing. Instead Tsuna's smile became curious and a little sad. "Sorry," he said. "Your Flames only work on physical injuries and this is inside my head. It doesn't hurt so much now though, so thank you."

Reborn pulled back his Flames, finally looking around them. It was white and empty, with no distinguishing features whatsoever. "Your mind?" He wondered aloud. "That explains you talking, but...adult is how I think of myself, so that makes sense. But what about _you?"  
_ A rueful smile. "Oh, the bandages. Well...you said it yourself, you think of yourself as an adult. The mental avatar reflects a persons mental and Flame state; this is me. I think you look nice, by the way."

Stunned, Reborn reached out his hand, but Tsuna flinched away. He felt sick to his stomach; this boy was so fragile and he had trampled all over his boundaries. If this was the state of Tsuna's mind and Flames...his mind screamed _abuse_ and then his stomach dropped to his boots. Tsuna was mute; Flames could heal and not even leave a scar if the user was skilled.

"Tsuna," Reborn said shakily. "When did you stop speaking?" Orange-brown eyes glanced away.

"I was about 5, maybe 6, I think. I remember being so frustrated that nobody would listen to me, they would wave off my concerns and opinions and tell me what I was going to do. I refused to speak to anyone, thinking I would finally get some attention. But nobody noticed. I was 7 when I realised that if no-one cared, why bother talking at all? I used my Flames to do minimum participation in school. When Hibari came across me, I tried to talk to him, only to find I couldn't, even when we Harmonized. I think a have a mental block or something, maybe Flame-enhanced. So I use Harmony to speak into their heads. Then Mukuro taught me to build a mindscape so we can come into my head and be together. We call it Haven, because it's safe. It means I don't exhaust my Flames speaking to them, even if it's easier because they're my Guardians."

Reborn relaxed slightly; that it wasn't physical was some form of relief, but this still didn't bode well. Also, that the metaphysical injuries were burns was ringing alarm bells, and their prior conviction that he was there to kill Sasagawa. Those could be addressed later, for now there was something the Hitman needed to do.  
"I am sorry," he breathed, bowing his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise, I'm truly an idiot, I should have realised..." Warm arms wrapped around his head and shoulders, pulling him into a scrawny bandaged chest.

"It's okay," Tsuna said softly. "I know now you were just trying to help us in what you thought was the right way. And you tried to heal me the moment we got here, so you do care a little bit. And you didn't try and burn me with your Flames, so that's good as well."

Ah yes, the burn wounds. Reborn pulled himself together, drawing back a little. "If your injuries are a direct representation, then...who forced their Flames on you, Tsuna?" The little Sky backed away nervously at his growl.  
"N-no, I won't!" He cried desperately, trembling and clutching his chest. "I can't accept his Flames, it hurts! You can't make me!"

" _He_ will never come near you again!" Reborn said as reassuring as possible, promising himself and Tsuna that this person would be eliminated with extreme prejudice and great satisfaction.  
A quavering, hysterical laugh tore itself from Tsuna's lips. "You can't...I'll...we'll never be free of him! He's my own personal demon, and he's dragging my precious Guardian's down to Hell with me!" Tsuna didn't resist when Reborn put his hand on his shoulder, his unsteady speech becoming choked with sobs.

In a flash of their respective Flame-colours, Tsuna's Guardians appeared in the mindscape, and Reborn took in their own appearances.

Chrome the Mist was bruised and battered, an oxygen mask fixed over her mouth and nose, but she held herself tall, her hair was clean and neat and she wore a pretty sundress. Unfortunately, the dress's bodice was crusted with dried blood and underneath she was liberally bandaged right up to the neck.  
Mukuro Rokudo the other Mist was heavily marked with keloid scar tissue, yet his suit was impeccably clean. The only mar was a bandaged left hand.  
Takeshi Yamamoto was undamaged save for considerable bruising.  
Hayato Gokudera was badly mauled, but the savage cuts were stitched and looked clean and on their way to closing over fully.  
Ryohei Sasagawa was littered in band-aids protecting tiny, deliberate-looking slices.  
Hibari Kyouya had heavy chains hanging from the shackles on his wrists, but he snarled and rattled them defiantly.  
Lambo Bovino had one eye taped with gauze, the same as Tsuna.

"Tsuna explained then?" Yamamoto asked as he took in Reborn's protective demeanour.  
"Aah," Reborn affirmed. "I apologised for not realising what was going on sooner. But I asked who had forced his Flames on him, so I could make him pay, but...'"

"Trust me, if you think the little fish looks bad now, you should have seen him when we first built this place," Mukuro grimaced, conjuring his trident from thin air and leaning on it. "His bandages were completely soiled and he was as thin as a Holocaust survivor. It's his bonds to us that healed him to this point."  
"Starved of any affection whatsoever," Chrome clarified.

Hibari rattled his chains again, scowling at Ryohei, who sighed and hefted the ends off of the floor to share some of the weight. "Otouto is extremely brave!" He exclaimed, before his expression fell. "He is in so much pain," he said miserably.

"Do not crowd the little feral," Hibari hissed, stalking over to Tsuna with Ryohei in two. Reborn backed away, not wanting the agitate further the already stressed Cloud. The self-proclaimed carnivore put his arms around Tsuna's waist, humming gently. The young Sky leaned back into the embrace.

"I'll help you," Gokudera spat furiously at Reborn. "We all will. The Vongola can rot for all we care, the Boss comes first and...we're not strong enough yet. We won't rest easy until the fucking Commander screams in the darkest bowels of Hell."

"Commander is bad," Bovino sniffled dejectedly as Chrome picked him up and passed him to Tsuna, who clung to him like a lifeline. "Future Lambo knows that Reborn is good for Tsuna-nii and will help. So Lambo tells Tsuna-nii and now Reborn is here!"

Reborn practically pricked his ears at the mention of the name 'Commander'. "Who is this Commander and why is Tsuna so frightened of him? Besides the obvious."

It was Tsuna who spoke up, barely above a whisper as he turned his one desolate and despairing eye to Reborn.

"The Commander of the CEDEF, Iemitsu Sawada."

* * *

 **Going to stop it there, but there will be a part 2. I've left out why they thought Reborn was going to murder Ryohei, after all.**

 **Clarification: Tsuna started out with Selective Mutism, but it soon became Progressive Mutism, which is why he can't even talk to his Guardians, whom he trusts implicitly.**

 **Iemitsu was semiconsciously trying to mould Tsuna with his own Sky Flames, but he didn't notice when they burned Tsuna's soul instead.**

 **Because of being so invested in the mindscape Haven and only communicating through the Harmony factor, Tsuna internalizes his emotions, which is why he seemed so unaffected at his first kill. That night they all piled into Haven and comforted him as he cried.**

 **What do you guys think? About a semi-hive-mind 10thGen?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hell is Empty, All the Devils are Here**

 **Part 2, yay!**

 **Warnings for beyond-abysmal parenting, pain conditioning, child neglect and child gladiators(practically). Also, Italian swearing and Mukuro being a creepy little shit.**

* * *

 _Last Time:_

 _Reborn practically pricked his ears at the mention of the name 'Commander'. "Who is this Commander and why is Tsuna so frightened of him? Besides the obvious."_

 _It was Tsuna who spoke up, barely above a whisper as he turned his one desolate and despairing eye to Reborn._

 _"The Commander of the CEDEF, Iemitsu Sawada."_

* * *

Reborn's blood ran cold. A part of his brain acknowledged that most child abuse was by a family member in a position of care, if not one or both parents. Another part was jarred as it tried to reconcile the naïve, ditzy man with the damaged children he could see. Yet another told him that it was entirely possible, considering that Iemitsu could have become so obsessed he broke all acceptable limits when it came to child-rearing, which meant a fourth part of his brain was now seething anger at both the abuse and at how long this had been going on for without anyone noticing.

The Hitman saw the wary looks the children were giving him, expecting him to dismiss their accusation of Iemi...the Young Lion and he took a deep steadying breath.

"I can train you to be strong," he said slowly, starting at the beginning so they could follow his line of thinking. "But that won't do much good, since that's what he wants. When you eventually become strong, it will be too late to gain support against him, since any definitive proof will be gone or obscured by time.  
What I can do is put you in contact with trustworthy people now. People who will see what's going on and start discretely spreading the word. I already have a person in mind. Don Dino Cavallone, one of my former pupils. It won't be thought much of if I call him over; it'll be assumed that I'm using him as a role-model or rival for you."

"Will he try and take me away?" Chrome asked nervously, wringing her hands together. "It hurts." Mukuro pulled her into his chest protectively.

"Dino would never force any Bonded away from their Sky," Reborn assured her. "Nobody would. At least...did someone try and take you away from Tsuna? You have Flame burns as well." She nodded.

"We Harmonized with Tsuna at the same time," Mukuro explained. "The Commander didn't believe us and he tried to force a Bond with Chrome. We...it hurt...I was just so _angry_ that I...even all of us together weren't strong enough to stop him. When his Flames didn't take no matter how hard he pushed, he went ballistic. He said Tsuna wasn't allowed to have more than one of each Flame-type and that Tsuna could only have the strongest."

Strongest of each Flame-type. Ryohei Sasagawa. Reborn as a possible replacement. "Porco Guida," he muttered hoarsely, reverting to his native Italian. "Figlio di puttana, cazzo, cazzo, cazzo...He made you fight, didn't he?"

"He said there was only one Vongola Mist Ring after all," Yamamoto said dejectedly. "He thought only Mukuro had Harmonized and he said that if Mukuro died to another Mist, Tsuna would Harmonize with the winner. You're the Arcobaleno Sun, so we thought...'"

Reborn slammed his fist into the white not-ground. "He's dead," he seethed, solid yellow eyes literally smouldering. "He's a dead man walking."

* * *

"Reborn's going to kill me~e!" Dino wailed, his men worriedly flitting around him. How was it possible to get lost in a town this size?!

The blonde squawked in alarm as tonfa coated in Cloud Flames smashed into the pavement in front of him, the dust clearing to reveal a school-uniformed teenager with a red armband pinned to the arm of the jacket on his shoulders.  
"You are the horse and his herd?" the teen asked, pulling back his Flames.

Dino nodded mutely, sensing the Sky Flames shot through the Cloud's and that something had this Cloud incredibly stressed and protective to the point of being on a constant hair-trigger. "Who are you?" He asked warily, motioning to his men that they should follow.  
"I am Carnivore," said the Cloud matter-of-factly, no doubt his given nom de guerre rather than his actual name. "You will follow me to a safe place. We are waiting for-"

A spasm ran through Carnivore's body, before his eyes began to bleed purple. "Sky," he breathed. "I'll bite you to death."

Dino dodged the first two strikes, then reached down and uncoiled his whip. What was up with this Cloud? Dino hadn't even reached out to him and the boy had been perfectly calm and civil just moments before! Not wanting to hurt who was obviously the Cloud Guardian of his honorary little brother, he only let his whip leave thin slices that bled profusely. When that failed to deter, he did his best to trip and bind.

Luckily, a familiar green hammer cratered the ground in between them before it started getting truly bloody.

"Chaos," Dino's old tutor said in greeting. "Hibari-san, if you reach out to Tsuna, you'll find that he's fine." The Cloud tilted his head and sighed, tension easing out of him.

Dino fell to the ground, twitching, as the tiny Hitman clocked around the head with hammer-Leon. "A good Boss is always prepared, useless-Dino! Since you got lost so easily, I suppose you're in need of some remedial training. I'll introduce you to Tsunayoshi, but keep a lid on your Flames, whatever you do, or his Guardians will go berserk."

* * *

Dino hadn't known what to expect as they approached the clearing, but an exhausted, fluffy little Primo Vongola clone who flinched in fear when he laid eyes on him, was definitely not in his mind. It was far too reminiscent of a beaten, neglected colt he had once seen, long ago.  
"Dios, Reborn," Dino breathed. "What have you done?"

The Strongest Sun tipped his fedora forward to bathe his eyes in shadow. "I'm brutal, Dino, you know that. But I'm not the one who broke his spirit. And it goes far deeper than that."

"You're a Sky," a voice purred behind Dino as a finger deliberately laid itself on the now-thundering pulse in the crook of his jaw. "Sky Flames have only ever blinded us, bound us, _burned us_. When the little fish found out Reborn's friend was a Sky...he forgot how to breathe."  
The finger was joined by the rest of a hand, caressing the Cavallone's Adam's Apple ever-so-gently as fear seeped into the blonde's bones.  
"Just imagine it," the voice crooned. "The mass expulsion of air in a single breath as the diaphragm pulls flat and the ribcage tightens. The trachea constricts as adrenaline floods through his brain, vision darkening at the edges even as he struggles to take in that life-giving oxygen. The _fear_ , the _panic_ , the _pain_ that screams through his Flames. Begging, _pleading_ for his Guardians to save him from the approaching, unstoppable, _burning_ Soul whose Flame-type he knows only brings the dark, cold abyss of Space."

The grip tightened and Dino felt hot breath on the nape of his neck.  
"Will you burn us, Cavallone?"

"Shrike!" A Japanese Rain carrying a bamboo shinai broke in. "You should know better than anyone that people lash out when they're scared."  
A quiet scoff and the sudden crushing despair lifted from Dino, sending him staggering forward. He regained his senses in time to see a Mist with dark blue hair hefting a trident stalking across the grass to stand by Tsunayoshi's shoulder.

"Thank you for the explanation, Rokudo, even if it was a bit much on the intimidation front," Reborn said wryly, kicking Dino in the shin. "A Boss always introduces himself, useless-Dino, you are being extremely rude right now."

Head still reeling from the implications of what the Mist had said, _'another Sky forced their Flames on Tsunayoshi and his Guardians, conditioned for Sky Flames to mean pain'_ , Dino introduced himself mechanically, not realising that Tsuna didn't reply likewise.  
"Aah, you have wonderful Guardians," Dino said, not noticing the glimmer of dawning hope and incredulous wistfulness in Tsuna's eyes at the compliment. "They care a lot about you and they're very strong. I guess that means you're a caring person and strong as well, right?"

The Cavallone Don's eyes flew open wide in shock as he felt tentative flickers of Tsuna's Sky Flames hovering around him, nudging him gently. He leaked out a little of his own Flames, Tsuna's drawing back some, before swirling forward again. Dino made his Flames as soft and welcoming as possible, trying to sooth the skittish ones that danced around him for a minute before brushing up against him. The boy stepped forwards, and before Dino could react, tapped him on the forehead with a handful of Sky Flames.

The world went white and Dino spun round in shock, coming face-to-face with a high-quality waistcoat and tailor-cut yellow shirt. Dark eyes shadowed by an Italian silk fedora and framed by familiar curled sideburns stared down at him and Dino screeched incoherently in shock.  
"Get a hold on yourself, Cavallone," Reborn said harshly, grabbing him by the shoulders. "We don't have time for you to be surprised. Welcome to the truth."

The Hitman turned him around and Dino could only gape in horror.

"Reborn wanted you to see this," Tsuna said quietly. "Things aren't exactly quite right, you see."  
He gestured to each of his Guardians in turn; "You've met Carnivore, my Cloud and Shrike's the Mist who was being creepy just now. Lionfish is my other Mist. Shuinsen is my Rain and Quicklime my Storm. Taiyang is Sun and this little one here is Fulgurite. Sorry about being such a mess, but we're trying to do something about it. That's why you're here."

"Dios, Reborn, why are you just standing there!" Dino yelled. "These kids are hurt, heal them already!"

"I can't, Dino." His tutor replied distantly, a snarl creeping into his voice. "Flames don't work here. This is Tsuna's mindscape and these are their mental avatars. These are their minds and Flames; Tsuna has been fucking mute for years because nobody listened to him and he gave up talking! Lionfish had a Forced Harmonization attempted on her! Take a good long look at what Iemitsu Sawada is doing to them!"

The words rang in his skull and he toppled backwards onto his ass. "W-what?" He stammered, before his brain caught up and pushed the word _abuse_ into the front of his head. All the horror stories he had been told since he Activated came flooding back; Soul Burns, Forced Harmonization, Flame Suppression, Flame Rape...' And then all the physical and mental abuse he had heard of raised it's ugly heads.

He tasted bile on his tongue.

"Dios," he muttered. "Dios. His own son. How does no-one know?"

Reborn reached down his hand to him and pulled him to his feet. "We need to get the word out. Discretely. Who knows how Iemitsu will take it if he finds out? We need dissent in the ranks of Vongola about what sort of training the Heir is getting, if not Iemitsu's own capability to lead."

"I understand," Dino affirmed, mouth set in a grim line as he dusted himself down. "There's not a chance in Hell that this is continuing. No-one hurts my little brother, not even the Young Lion."

"Little...brother?" Tsuna piped up, voice quavering. Dino forced the anger from his face, smiling as gently as possible as he knelt in front of the little Sky and offered his hand. "Tsunayoshi Sawada. I would be truly honoured if you would accept my loyalty and that of the Cavallone Famiglia, as not only an Ally, but also as a brother and a friend."  
Dino's Flames _sang_ as Tsuna's hand slipped into his, the little Decimo's own Flames washing over them both like a warm sea. "I...I guess another nii-chan would be nice...'" The Sun covered in band-aids whooped excitedly and latched onto the Rain, babbling about something 'Extreme!'. "...can I call you Onii-chan?"

Dino's heart felt a tiny bit lighter. "That would be wonderful, Tsuna. Thank you so much, Otouto." He was promptly blinded by the beaming smile that spread across Tsuna's face. Were those actual sparkles, or was Shrike the creepy Mist messing with him again? It took a second or two to blink them away.  
"Hey, Tsuna, let me tell you about when I was in Mafia Academy. I was in the same class as this guy from the Superbi Familglia, genius at swords, but an utter loudmouth. Somehow we became friends of a sort and through him I met his Sky. Tell me, Tsuna, what do you know of Xanxus Vongola of the Varia and the Cradle Affair?...'"

* * *

 _ **Damn, this is actually stretching to a Part 3!**_

* * *

 **So yeah, I'm giving the 10thGen codenames. Because this is fanfiction, dammit. Also, I have a weakness for symbolism and codenames.**

 **Hibari Kyouya = _Carnivore_ (Do you need to ask why?)**

 **Mukuro Rokudo = _Shrike_ (A Eurasian bird that eats large insects and small rodents. It stores them to eat later by impaling them, probably still half-alive, on thorn bushes.)**

 **Chrome = _Lionfish_ (A very pretty, ornamental-looking fish that disorientate their prey and have poisonous defensive spines.)**

 **Takeshi Yamamoto = _Shuinsen_ (Red Seal Ship. Early 17th Century Japanese armed merchant ships. Japanese traders were very much feared as 'devils' in the rest of Asia.** **)**

 **Hayato Gokudera = _Quicklime_ (Calcium Oxide. Used as an explosive weapon throughout history. Ignites on contact with water*cough*fights with Takeshi*cough*.)**

 **Ryohei Sasagawa = _Taiyang_ (One of the 14 major stars in Chinese Zi Wei Dou Shu fortune-telling. Translates to Sun. Means masculinity, self-sacrifice, ideals, power and capacity to give.)**

 **Lambo Bovino = _Fulgurite_ (When lightning strikes sand or ground containing certain minerals, it becomes glass and creates a fossil of itself.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hell is Empty, All the Devils are Here**

 **Part 3! Pantera Superbi and the Superbi Famiglia is a tribute to Black Sky and Bolt From the Blue by Umei no Mai.**

 **Warning: Varia = Swearing**

* * *

Squalo was Stressed. And also relieved. His Sky, his precious, burning Sky was finally back. Except, Xanxus was confused, in pain, angry as all get out and very hurt. And all of it was filtering down to Squalo. The Rain had already put five of his sparring partners in the Infirmary and he was still itching to obliterate something, even with soaking himself in Rain Flames.

He really did not want to answer the phone right now.

"Squalo," crackled the voice of his old-time friend Dino Cavallone. "How's Xanxus doing?"

"Pissed, upset and in pain," the Varia Officer grunted, his grip on his nerves starting to slip as he felt his Sky catching up on all he had missed. He had just found out that his Grandmother was dead. "The freezer-burn is really bad and a lot's changed in eight years. VOI! Why the fuck are you calling me Dino, I heard you're in Japan scouting out Iemitsu's spawn?!"

Dino growled, fucking growled, and Squalo was instantly alert.  
"I met Tsunayoshi, yes Squalo. Don't even mention the Young Lion to me, okay? I am so absolutely fucking livid at him you would not believe. I think if my Secondary was Storm I'd be spitting Wrath Flames right now because I want that man's head on a platter so I can fucking piss on it!"

As the snarled vitriol dissolved into heavy breathing, Squalo was gaping. He had never seen nor heard Dino this angry. "So," he started tentatively. "What's up with the Decimo brat that's got you-"

"Tsuna, Squalo, has been _mute_ for years," Dino interrupted, his tone the cloying, saccharine calm of an approaching hurricane. "When Reborn told him I was a Sky, he had a panic attack which goaded his Cloud into trying to kill me. His Mist said that they all associated Sky Flames with pain. Guess who the only other Sky they've been around is. And that's not even touching on what's been done to his Guardians!"

"Fuck," Squalo breathed. "Just...fuck. Regardless, why call me and not Nono Vongola? The Varia's still in the proverbial doghouse and with Boss out, the rest of Vongola's on tenterhooks, so they won't listen to anything we say."

"You're a Superbi, you idiot! And Pantera Superbi likes you, not to mention he doesn't like child abuse. Also," Dino's voice was more tired now, the vehement edge dulled a little. "We need to get the kids away. It won't look out of place if Xanxus comes after Tsuna; claim dissension in the line of inheritance and a Ring Battle will be initiated. Perfect excuse to kidnap them. Reborn and I honestly feel that Tsuna and his Guardians would fare better if they were under house arrest by the Varia than if they stayed under Iemitsu's _loving care_."

Squalo huffed, leaning back against the wall. "Xanxus needs me now, Dino, I can't leave him. But I can run it by him at some point, how he'll take it I don't know. Even if it's a no go, we can still cause a bit of havoc, keep the CEDEF running in circles."

"Thanks, Squalo," came a quiet sigh. "If you could start spreading a few rumours too, shouldn't be too difficult. If you need anything for Xanxus, just give me a call, okay?"

"I'll keep it in mind," the Rain Officer grunted, before hanging up.

* * *

Dino slept at the Sawada household on a spare futon in the living room, his men staying at a hotel in town. His sleep was peaceful enough now that he had contacted Squalo, the assurance that something would be done letting him drift off with only hazy, half-remembered nightmares.  
However, he woke up at some ungodly hour of early morning to the soft patter of bare feet, the feel of staring eyes and the sound of soft, panicked breathing. He blearily opened his own eyes to see Tsuna standing apprehensively a little way away.

"Y'okay?" Dino mumbled, sitting up. "Nightmare?" A shy nod as Tsuna shuffled his feet, stepping closer.

 _ **"You're real? I didn't make you up?"**_ Harmony spoke into Dino's head, and the Cavallone held out his hand, coating it in Sky Flames; "Here, feel."  
Tsuna knelt beside him. The smaller hands took it almost reverently, Sky Flames flickering at each other, Tsuna's mouth opening in an almost perfect 'o' and tears beading in his eyes. Dino leaned over and pulled the little Sky into a proper hug, wrapping him protectively in Sky Flames and hoisting him onto the futon beside him.

"I'm here, Otouto, I'm right here," he whispered aloud as Tsuna sobbed silent tears of relief into his sleeping shirt and he carded his own fingers through fluffy brown hair. "I'll always be right here for you. I promised to be your brother and brother's always protect each other, ne?" Dino exchanged a nod with the Trident-wielding Mist, Shrike, who was crouched like a gargoyle on the backrest of a chair. The figure faded into thin air after giving a sharp-edged grin of approval.

 _ **"O...Onii-chan?"**_ Dino looked down at the little Sky curled into the crook of his shoulder; "Hmm?"  
 _ **"I think I like your Flames. I didn't know Skies could be this...warm."**_ Dino smiled wistfully, clutching Tsuna tighter.  
"I'm glad you think so, Otouto. But...of course Skies can be warm; you are the largest, kindest, strongest, most accepting and _warmest_ Sky I have ever met. So creative too! Speaking to people with just your Flames is an incredible idea, be proud of yourself. Your Guardians are so, _so_ lucky to have such a wonderful Sky."

 _ **"Thank you, Onii-chan,"**_ Tsuna projected, sighing sleepily. _**"I'll go now, then...eh?!"**_ He was pulled back into Dino's chest, the blonde pulling the covers back over them both. "Sleep here for now, Otouto," Dino murmured, wrapping his arms around Tsuna's waist and snuggling into the smaller boy. "We can keep nightmares away from each other."

 ** _"But only useless cry-babies...'"_** "Never too old to stop having nightmares, never too old to cuddle," Dino yawned firmly, trying not to coo at the adorable embarrassed blush on Tsuna's cheeks. "Sleep, Reborn will wake us up early, Otouto."

* * *

"Boss?"

Squalo's only answer was a grunt from the darkness and the gleam of a single red eye. He twisted the light on to 'dim' and saw the mess the room was in. His Sky was dishevelled, staring morosely at an empty wine bottle on the desk on front of him.  
"Voi! Boss, Lussuria says he'll check your eye again and that you might get the bandage off."

The announcement roused Xanxus from his stupor, the teenager(Good fucking god, Boss was still 16!) heaved himself from the chair and walked stiffly over to his Rain.  
"VOI!" Squalo screeched indignantly as his hair was pulled sharply, the Wrath user breezing past him towards the Infirmary. Xanxus was still struck by the novelty of his Rain with long hair, but Squalo could tell he was touched by the fact the promise had been kept.

"Shitty shark," came the gravelled voice as Xanxus had the gauze covering his damaged right eye unwound. "Got news?"

"Dino Cavallone phoned in, Boss," Squalo replied steadily, eyeing Lussuria who had his ears pricked in anticipation of juicy gossip. "The Arcobaleno Reborn got called in by the old man to take a look at the Heir, Iemitsu's brat. The baby called in Cavallone after a week and...Dino was fucking angry over the phone, Boss. Never, never ever have I heard him so angry. Straight up screaming that he wanted Iemitsu's head on a plate."

He now had the attention of both Sun Officer and Wrath, even as the okama flashed a penlight in Xanxus' eye and consulted charts.

"The brat's been mute for years, and had a fucking panic attack when heard Dino was Sky because Sky Flames have only ever hurt him. Actual abuse, Boss. Said the Guardians got it too."

"The old man doesn't know?" The red eyes were burning bright now, smouldering embers like a dragon spying an addition to it's hoard and contemplating the destruction of the fortress in it's way. Squalo could feel the boiling righteous fury of 'I was failed, won't let it happen to some other kid, even if it's only out of spite' flooding down the bond. Lussuria had that strange pout on his face that signified someone was going to find their body malfunctioning in a variety of humiliating, painful and messy ways.

"No," Squalo confirmed. "Dino said both he and Reborn think the brats would be safer here, with the fucking Varia, than with the Young Lion. Asked that even if you don't want to get involved, if we could keep the CEDEF busy for a bit while they get them out."

Silenced followed, and the air grew heavy with tension as Xanxus contemplated.

"Nonna never knew about this," he said, voice thickened with grief. "She'd never forgive me if I let this go."

Decision made, the Varia Boss stormed out of the Infirmary, ripping the still air apart with new purpose and the fires of his rage freshly stoked with the thrill of fights to come.

* * *

 _To be continued!_

* * *

 **Shameless fluff for the win!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Gah! Cannot. Write. Fon.**

 **Warnings for blackmail/hostage situation.**

* * *

"Mammon," Fon nodded serenely at his fellow Arcobaleno.  
"Viper, please," the Mist grumbled. "I'm not at the Varia right now."

The Eye of The Storm folded his hands into his sleeves, considering the other. "Ah, yes. I had heard that the Varia Boss had been released recently. It is quite hectic, no doubt. So for you to be away from that means that this cannot wait and must be said in person."

"You have a personal stake in it." That meant family, not Family. Regardless of how protective the Arcobaleno were over what little blood relations they had, Viper was not the sort to run such messages out of the blue and without prior request and payment. The usually unflappable Mist was uncomfortable, that was certain.

"You know that one of your nephews is Cloud to the Vongola Heir." Fon sipped at his tea. Yes, he did know. How was the little skylark reacting to Reborn? He really must call, it had been a few months.  
"What of it?"

To his growing unease, Viper did not even name a price.  
"Don Dino Cavallone forwarded me a list of trustworthy contacts and is sending a fixed price for every one of them I spread this information to."

"..."

"Tsunayoshi Sawada, along with his Guardians, have been systematically abused for years. Evidence of attempted Forced Harmonization, emotional neglect, overwork, pain-based conditioning-"

Fon's cup steamed. Not the beverage; the ceramic vessel. It disintegrated into oblivion as the Storm's eyes glowed a blank, hellish red. "Hibari never said," he mourned, the sorrowful cadence in his voice twisting into something ugly and hateful as his lips drew back in a snarl.

The hood tilted to one side. "The boy's pet bird went missing, did it not? And yet he didn't seem frantic, as any child missing a beloved animal companion would be, particularly a Cloud. Pets are much more overlooked than human hostages, after all; that's my theory."  
The ions in the air sparked and crackled, flooding the room with the metallic taste of ozone, catching off of the sound-waves and lending an inhuman timbre to Fon's voice.

 _" **W** h_ **o** _?_! _ **"** _

The Mist Arcobaleno, admirably calm in the face of such legendary fury save for sweat trickling down their cheeks, slid a piece of paper across the table. "Reborn and Cavallone are pulling allies together, Xanxus among them. They want this man, not just dead, but despised. Kicked out of every store, growled at by every dog, hissed at by every cat, bitten by every rat, spat on by every beggar, the villain in every childhood cautionary tale. There's a secure line on that paper, a direct phone line to Cavallone, Tsunayoshi and his Guardians."

As the Mist took their leave at that parting gift, they considered Dino Cavallone. 'His attitude...a distressing and disturbing situation, yes. But he reacted rather like an Element would to their Sky, in the same situation. Wasn't there a myth about a Transcendent Sky? And the rumours about Primo Vongola...not that they ever put much stock in reincarnation...But Flames were an expression of the soul, and the Sky Flame-type was the only one passed down through successive generations...''

* * *

"Basil!" Lal Mirch called impatiently. "It's time to feed the bird!"

The small Rain sighed, but nonetheless retrieved a bag of grain from a draw and hurried off to Iemitsu's empty office.  
"Why does he even have that bird, anyway?" Turmeric asked. Lal Mirch frowned to herself as she thought back.

"He said something about 'insurance'. I don't know what he meant by that, it's not like this is a coal mine or something. Regardless, it's only a songbird in a cage, there are worse office pets to have."

* * *

Reborn was starting to get professionally upset by the fact he was being surprised by pretty much everything regarding Tsuna. However, this was starting to branch into the realm of downright absurd.

"Transcendent Skies are a myth," he groaned out loud. "At least, I thought they were. I honestly don't know if this is a good or a bad thing in the long run."

Dino looked sheepish, one arm holding Tsuna to his side. "Um...sorry?" he said. "Tsuna just...he held my hand and it kind of...happened." He tried not to edge away from the unnerving Cheshire smile Shrike was giving him. Reborn merely sighed, rubbing at his eyes.  
"We can think about that later. For now though, it seems that the Varia as a whole are in. Xanxus is on board; Squalo called while you were busy."

"I didn't expect that," Dino mused. "I thought for sure he would take more convincing...actually, no, I can see him going for it. He doesn't tolerate mistakes being repeated and Tsuna is probably a little too close to his own circumstances for him to dismiss. Not to mention, it's something to rub in Vongola's collective face."

 _ **"What's Xanxus like?"**_ Tsuna asked, tilting his head curiously. **_"We've heard about him from the Commander, but...he's biased."_**

"For one thing, he understands the concept of politeness, just chooses not to use it," Dino said. "He's blunt, to the point, jaded towards violence and nearly always angry at something. Expect copious amounts of swearing. Oh, and Quicklime?" He looked over to the Storm. "He calls everyone 'trash'; he'll say it to Tsuna as well. He's not specifically degrading anyone, it's just how he thinks."

Gokudera paused, then nodded slowly. "I've heard that he has a volatile temperament. But if he lifts a hand against Juudaime...'" He left the threat hanging in the air as all of Tsuna's Guardians nodded in agreement.  
"I heard about Squalo Superbi the Second Sword Emperor," Shuinsen the Rain chipped in, hefting his shinai over his shoulder. "I'm looking forward to seeing just how good he is."

"There wasn't much about Xanxus' Sun in the dossier we were given," Chrome asked. "With the lack of background I'm guessing street kid, but I could be wrong. It said Lussuria is an expert in Muay Tai, but hardly anything was written about Flame skills?"

"Dossier?" Dino and Reborn both chorused.

 _ **"Provided by the Commander. The Varia Boss was rather popular with the other Dons and so is the main rival for Decimo."**_ Tsuna affirmed. _**"We were taught to fight him and his Guardians, put them down permanently if need be."**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings for swearing, fluff and Varia.**

* * *

"Here," Shuinsen said, pushing a mug of hot chocolate into Dino's hand. "You bonded to Tsuna somehow, so we expected this."  
Dino took the mug blearily, noticing all but one of the Guardians sat around the kotatsu. They were all sipping hot chocolate, save two. The small Bovino child who went by Fulgurite was dead to the world, snoring quietly in Taiyang's lap with chocolate stains around his mouth. And Carnivore's half-finished drink sat on the kotatsu, the Cloud having his arms wrapped tight around Tsuna, who was in his lap with his tear-stained face buried in the Cloud's neck in between sips.  
Shrike was casually breaking the laws of physics and calmly sipping his hot beverage while sat upside down on the ceiling.

"You all get bad nightmares?" Dino asked tentatively.

"It's a normal symptom of a royally fucked life," Quicklime snapped, before checking himself. "Running on little sleep sucks," he explained apologetically.  
"Otouto's Unextreme nightmares echo through our Extreme Bonds and add to ours," the Sun added. "But Takeshi makes Extreme chocolate drinks."  
"Laced with Rain Flames," Shuinsen clarified. "Hibari-san usually takes care of Tsuna; he's the first of us Guardians and Tsuna's Right Hand."

Dino sipped his hot chocolate. Instant-type, but still good. He could taste the Rain Flames as well. "First I've heard of a Cloud being Right Hand to any Sky. I this this works though." He jumped at the sudden weight on his back.

"Different!" Shrike chimed. "Your Flames feel different and not because of different Secondaries, it's something else and it's _somewhere_ in my brain but can't think!" He catapulted himself off of the staggering Cavallone and vanished into thin air.

"It's fine, Mukuro-sama does that sometimes," Chrome said nonchalantly as Dino stared mournfully at the chocolate stain on his pyjamas. She flicked her fingers and her Flames and it vanished. "He's being physical because he feels out of his depth and you're a newcomer, nothing against you as a person."

"He's right though," Quicklime interjected. "Yours and Tsuna's Skies feel a lot different to the Commander's. I don't particularly like you and you're not trying to make me like you, but you still feel all warm and shit. His is all cold and empty, like he's dead inside."  
Dino frowned at the description.

"That...is strange," he muttered. "As Shrike said, that does sound vaguely familiar. The Superbi have more extensive records on Flame Lore than the Cavallone though, that might have better information. That's really, really weird though; Skies by nature of their Flames seek people out. Yet he doesn't have any Guardians. Going by what little I know of psychology, the Young Lion may be psychopathic, but that's something you're born with, so how could he have activated as a Sky? Or am I thinking of something else?"

"Can we all just agree this is fucked up and leave it at that?" Quicklime grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "One in the morning is too early for psychoanalysis shit."

Takeshi clapped his hands together and smiled broadly, getting everyone's attention. "Can we all finish please now please? Back to bed now, we get up early tomorrow." There was a general rustle of movement as cups were drained and placed on the table, pyjama-clad figures padding upstairs on bare feet. Eventually, only Carnivore was left, a sleeping Tsuna still in his lap.  
"You need a hand to carry him?" Dino offered, and the Cloud hesitantly nodded.

Between them they got Tsuna up the stairs to the bedroom easily enough and without incident, even if Hibari was visible bristling at the intrusion to his and Tsuna's personal space. The moment they set him down on the bed, Hibari curled up next to him, Tsuna reciprocating while still sleeping. The Cloud side-eyed Dino and growled softly, warning him away. He acquiesced, and made his way back downstairs, starting at the sight Reborn in pink and white polka-dot pyjamas and nightcap, sipping fresh hot chocolate from a tiny cup.

"Aah, finally using your brain like a Boss for once, Useless-Dino," the tiny Hitman said, finishing his drink and toddling out of the room. It took Dino a minute to realise he'd actually been complimented.

* * *

The Varia Assassin Mist-clone slid into the private plane with a grin on his face. "distractions all set Boss," he reported gleefully. "Officer Mammon says he can contact and maintain the Varia Territory easy, but contact him when you want to get back. Wolf, Shatter, Comic and Blade Squads are standing by to cause the Vongola some havoc."

"Job's done, now fuck off, Voi," Squalo grunted. The clone dissolved accordingly, and they felt the engines starting up.

"Shishishishi," Belphegor snickered, flipping his knives through his fingers. "The Prince wants the Lion to put up a good fight. Have the cubs as pets, shishishishishishi-'" the sound was cut off at the feel on Xanxus' heavy hand landing on his head. Storm Flames purred, happy at the feeling of Sky Flames so close, before the teen spat and hissed, drawing away to resume his dignified air and straighten his crown.  
"Leave the Sky-brat to me," Xanxus rumbled firmly, flexing his fingers around the hilt of one of his X-guns. "Want to see if he's still got teeth."

"Please let me at Iemitsu, Boss," Lussuria begged as the plane lifted into the air. "I just so happen to be carrying a new, concentrated, Sun-Flame resistant strain of Neurosyphilis on me, fancy that! I think he'll make the perfect patient zero."

Squalo shuddered. Lussuria, while not exactly someone you would leave to supervise children, had an issue with child abuse and the ill-treatment of family in general. He had spent most of his formative years in the seedier districts of the war-torn Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, before skipping the country to Thailand. That sort of environment tended to breed a strong pack mentality and Lussuria was very protective of the Varia. And it was stated on his file that he 'didn't do innocent children'. On the other hand, traffickers, especially ones who dealt in children...well...it was best summed up as 'We didn't even know the human body could do that, Officer'.

"Maybe when I'm done," Xanxus said after a minutes contemplation.

Squalo examined his own feelings. Nope, no pity for Iemitsu at all.

* * *

 **Neurosyphilis is nasty.** **Basically, it turns you into a blind, disorientated, seizure-wracked, staggering, weak and incontinent wreck.**

 **Since Lussuria has no backstory, I took some liberties, but it still fits his profile.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Jesus Christ on a Unicycle! Bleach-ed Nat-su and Umei-no-Mai read this story! *squee***

 **Also, Flashback of when Tsuna and Hibari met. My muse was feeling very Angsty, so...this is a warning.**

* * *

 _ **"Hello"**_ Tsuna and his Guardians chorused eerily. Dino felt a shudder down his spine even as he stared in fascination.  
"Okay, that is creepy and cool at the same time," he said. "I get the Harmony aspect, it explains how you all move in sync, but is Tsuna controlling all of you with your permission, or-"

 _ **"We are one,"**_ both Harmony and voices thrummed. _**"We become a collective, personalities temporarily pushed to the back. We balance. We share. Tsuna leads in that he initiates the Hivemind State."**_

Dino frowned in contemplation. "So, you can bring anyone Active into the Haven mindscape, but a Guardian Bond is needed to...join the Hivemind? Do you think I could join, considering that we Bonded?"  
All eight children stiffened.

 ** _"You don't know what you ask,"_** they said. **_"Like this, we are one. We see our feelings and echo them. We share pain, heartache, sorrow, joy. You wish for us to see your life, your secrets, your dreams, your very soul?"_**

Dino hesitated, considering. "On second thought, no," he said calmly. "It would be a bit much and I don't want to intrude on your lives like that. Plus, I don't want you to see all of me in that way. People have got to have some secrets, ne?"  
A ripple seemed to run through the clearing, and Tsuna and his Guardians staggered slightly.

"Good," Quicklime growled, rubbing his temple.  
"Tsuna likes you and Hibari-san's thoughts would probably explode your brain," Shuinsen the Rain chirped. "And I did not want to know how you felt about you-know-what, Gokudera-san."

The Storm snarled and launched himself at the Rain, who laughed and pulled out his shinai. They scrapped and swatted at each other in something that wasn't even a spar, but more of a play-fight, snarling empty threats that soon dissolved to barks of laughter. However, the rest of them continued to look dazed for a few minutes, sitting down quickly in the grass and taking deep breaths like this effect had happened before.

"Are you all okay?" Dino asked, concerned, sitting down beside Ryohei and taking Lambo from him, rubbing the child's back to ease his breathing.

 _ **"It takes a few minutes to readjust,"** _Tsuna groaned, running his fingers through his hair. _**"Takeshi and Gokudera...well, Takeshi just uses Rain Flames on himself and Hayato burns the nausea away with Storm. It's very unfair."**_

"I suppose all those minds together would be a huge headache," Dino said absently. "You must have to beat down a lot of conflict, and that's hard."

 _ **"I have experience in conflicting emotions, Onii-chan,"** _Tsuna replied, leaning back against the older Sky. _**"Hibari was my first Guardian and before I met him...well, I was more than a bit screwed over in the head department."**_

* * *

Seven-year-old Tsuna felt something black and malevolent curl in his gut as the older boy dragged him by the hand towards the elegant house. It wasn't the first time he had felt it, it moved whenever he looked at other children standing with their mothers and fathers, smiling happily. That was just how it was.

And now Hibari-san had caught a glimpse of his Sky Flames, dubbed them pretty, and hauled him off to the Hibari house. As if he were some object to be carted around and locked inside a display case. That wasn't how it was. He was strong, his sire said so, and he was going to rule Vongola when he was older and stronger, and change it all. He wasn't some pretty thing to be looked at and disregarded moments later; he deserved a little respect!

Hibari-san pulled him through a side gate and into a maze-like ramble of climbing plants with thorns and vines, before under an arch and into a meadow area, distant flower beds forming a colourful border.  
"This is my garden and it is my second-favourite spot for naps," Hibari said imperiously. "You can come in here, but you must not pull up or squish the flowers. You can use your fire here, but only if you tell me so I can watch."

The black thing inside Tsuna snarled. He was not some unruly pet! What right did this boy have to order him so?! He knew nothing about him, what he was like, what he had been through; he had no right to suddenly take him in to his home!

"Master Hibari, who is this young man?" Asked an old man in gardening overalls, making his way around some rosebushes and a fountain. "Master, you know people will panic if you take their children away. You had best return him."

"No, Kensuke, I want to keep him. He's not a herbivore like the rest of those snivelling grass-eaters and when I found him, he had-"

Tsuna boiled black with hatred as he saw Hibari-san's demeanour change ever so slightly, and the fond exasperation in the old man's smile and tone. Why? Why could his sire never look at him like that? His eyes were always off and his Flames crushed and burned Tsuna, compressing him down, down, until he couldn't think and he hid in the back of his head.  
He had wondered for a while if Iemitsu wasn't his real father, that there was another man out there with warm Sky Flames. That fantasy died a little every time Iemitsu smiled at his mother and lavished her with gifts, and she giggled like a lovesick schoolgirl, never looking at Tsuna. He wondered; had he done something to deserve this Hell on Earth? If he was stronger, faster, _better_ , would his sire's Flames be warm? That died too.

It wasn't fair. It. Was. Not. Fair. Why did other children get looked at with love and pride just for existing while Tsuna was always run into the ground with not even a 'well done' passing Iemitsu's lips? Why did other children get treats, hugs and kind words? And then have the utter _gall_ to condescend to him like they _understood_? Maybe he should make them understand what it was like to ache down to the very soul, to be ignored at every turn, to have cries and whimpers brushed off, for every bone to scream and be forced to still push on. He would make them _hurt_.

Black hatred roared.

Orange surged into his vision.

Mouth open in a silent scream and face twisted in rage, Tsuna lunged at Hibari, making contact square with the boy's chest and bowling him over. He ripped and clawed at black hair and shoulders, his teeth snapping centimetres away from the soft tissues of the nose and mouth; blocked by weighted wooden tonfa wielded by a wide-eyed Hibari. He heard the shocked yell of the old man, the one who had smiled at Hibari so kindly, and he brought his fist down. It only grazed Hibari's cheekbone, the older boy was quick enough to dodge the full force of the blow, but it still dazed him. Tsuna twisted, amber flames blossoming to life in his hands and a bloody haze of screaming anguish and betrayal in his head as he leapt.

Only to be jerked back and fall face down into the grass as a Flame-coated hand grabbed him round the ankle. Turning his head, he saw Hibari snarling at him with the fury of a newly-awakened Cloud. A Cloud who forcibly dragged him back and jumped on top of Tsuna, pinning him down. But Tsuna had been trained by one of the best and before his legs could be trapped, he clamped them around Hibari's ankles and twisted, flipping them over so he was on top. Now though, he had no solid stance and their tussle continued, rolling over and over on the grass that was quickly ground to mud.

He just wanted Hibari to _understand_. Was that so hard? Couldn't he at least have that? He didn't want nice things, they obviously weren't his to have and he'd just make them dirty with all these ugly feelings. But could he at least have one person, just _one_ , who knew what he felt like? Because it **_hurt_** , hurt deep inside like weeping sores from burn wounds and he was all rotten and black and he **_hatehate_** _hated_ the man who had **_made him like this_**. Made him an outcast, because **_what was he supposed to do_ **when the blackness inside him felt _**heavy, so heavy**_?

He didn't notice the hot tears sliding down his cheeks, until one fell onto Hibari's bruised and swollen cheek. That was also when he realised that Hibari's eyes had a glimmer of surprise and anger and...his observations were cut off when the Cloud raised his hand to touch his tear-stained cheek. "Little Feral," he breathed. "How did you speak inside my head?"

* * *

 **My muse is not sorry. She shoved this into my head, which made me a bit melancholy. But here it is, so I'm off to watch something terrifying instead of depressing. Over The Garden Wall is my emotional rebound cartoon.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Now my muse isn't feeling angsty, we can move onto the important stuff. Like FLUFF!**

 **With lots of Xanxus Whump because eight years of forced, last-minute cryostasis would leave more than just scarring.**

 **Warnings for bodily fluids, nudity and sickness.**

* * *

Having their Sky throwing up in a motel toilet was really not helping Squalo, Belphegor or Lussuria stay calm.

They had gotten one hour into the drive from the airport to Namimori when Xanxus grew silently irritable, as he did when in discomfort. When he paled drastically and started sweating like a pig in a slaughterhouse, Squalo veered the hire-car onto the grass verge and slammed the brakes. Their hopes that it was just car-sickness caused by his current weakened condition soon died as he began retching up murky brown slime into the bushes.

Between then and now was a panicked blur as they somehow got him to a motel and booked a room without alerting bystanders to his condition. Luss threw a wad of cash at Squalo, telling him to buy all the sports drinks and bottles of water he could, before heaving a half-conscious Xanxus into the ensuite bathroom.

The Rain Officer returned to find Bel muttering anxiously to himself in the corner and a pile of Xanxus' soiled clothing on the carpet. Lussuria opened the bathroom door, topless with hair and arms dripping with water, and wordlessly pulled Squalo inside. His breath caught in his throat.

His Sky was carefully laid in the shower against the wall, stark naked and unconscious underneath the stream of cold water. All colour was drained from his skin, save for a feverish flush to his face, his scar tissue red and sore-looking. A greenish discharge was weeping from his eyes and nose, crusting on his cheeks and more of the brown muck was seeping from under his hips and swirling down the drain.

"What's wrong?" Squalo snapped, fear settling in his gut.

"Instead of little by little like anyone else, his Wrath-natured Flames are purging the eight-year build-up of toxins, bacteria and other waste from his system all at once. By any means necessary." Lussuria summarised, chewing on his lower lip as he cracked open one of the bottles of sports drink. "It seems the vomiting has passed though. Now strip; get in there and support his upper body. I need an extra pair of hands and your Rain Flames for this."

He shucked off all his clothes save his boxers without protest, sliding into the cubicle and sitting down, pulling Xanxus into his lap as he did so. His skin was hot and clammy and trembled at his touch. "Voi, isn't there some drug for this?"

"Drugs are for treating something wrong with the body," Lussuria hissed as he rooted through his spatially-expanded first-aid bag. "There isn't anything wrong with him, this is a good thing. Giving him something will just make it longer, if not worse. All we can do is ride it out, keep him clean, hydrated and his temperature under control. Now see if you can wake him up!"

Shutting his mouth, Squalo, rest Xanxus' head in the crook of his shoulder. "Boss. Voi! Boss!" He said loudly, snapping his fingers and flaring his Flames urgently. A low moan was his answer, gummy eyes opening half-way as red irises swam aimlessly.

Lussuria thrust the carbonated sports drink at Squalo. "Get him to drink some, he needs the electrolytes or his blood sugar will drop and he'll dehydra- No,nonono, he's wheezing! Rain Flames, centre them on his ribs and diaphragm!"

Setting down the bottle, Squalo took a deep breath and focused his Will, easing the sheet of muscle and the ones over the rib-cage. He was duly rewarded with the sound of easier, if still heavy, breathing from Xanxus. Picking up the drinks bottle, he put it to his Sky's lips, after checking that he was semi-conscious once more. As Lussuria placed heated packs on certain muscle groups, Squalo trickled the brightly coloured drink between Xanxus' lips. After the first coughing gulp, and a sharp glance from Lussuria, the Rain remembered to massage the muscles in the throat to make swallowing easier.

Four hours later, the fever lifted and Squalo had gotten Xanxus to down two and a half bottles of liquid. The swordsman stifled a scream as his muscles protested the lack of movement. He surreptitiously flexed his legs as Lussuria leaned forward and took some of Xanxus' weight. As the Sun turned off the water and reached down with a washcloth to clean his bare hips, Xanxus stirred, and began to thrash in his half-awake state at the unfamiliar touch. Fortunately, he wasn't too out of it; sending thoughts of calm, safe and helping down their Guardian Bonds was enough to settle him. Squalo pitched in, grabbing his own cloth and wiping at the residue around Xanxus' eyes. It came away with little effort, but he took care not to get any water or scum in the eyes themselves.

Once done, Lussuria grabbed towels off of the rail, wrapping one around Xanxus waist and draping the other over his shoulders.

"Fuck!" Squalo groaned in pain as he tried to stand up, the cramp in his legs making him lose his balance.

"I can carry Boss by myself, dear. I'll come back for you in a minute." Indeed, Lussuria came back and helped Squalo to stand up and hobble into the bedroom. Belphegor was deep asleep next to Xanxus on the bed, despite the damp towels.

"How did he stay so calm?" Squalo wondered out loud.

"He didn't," Lussuria replied bluntly, tossing another towel at him to dry himself with. "I sedated him while you were out buying drinks."

"Sneaky," Squalo complimented, drying his hair. "Is Boss okay now or can we expect a relapse?"

"His eyes will probably be all scummy again in the morning," the Medical Officer yawned, flopping down on the bed. "Be weak and sore and have to be careful what he eats for a few days, but should otherwise be fine. Get some sleep now...'"

* * *

"S-shar-rk?" Xanxus croaked, waking Squalo. "E-eyes? Wha'?"

He flared his Flames against Xanxus' as he heaved himself up and fetched a damp washcloth from the bathroom, so that his Sky would be able to track him.  
"S'okay Boss," he mumured gently, wiping the crust away. "You were really bad last night. Luss and I stayed up to look after you." Calloused fingers twined through his hair, Xanxus pulling him closer. "Wha' was 't?" He slurred.

"Apparently your Flames decided to purge your body of all the muck built up while you were on ice, all at once. Wasn't exactly pretty. Had to clean you up in the shower, that's why you're naked save for towels."

"S'rry."

"Not your fault," Squalo said firmly. "Even if it was, we would have done it anyway, shitty Boss."

"Plain, mild food in small portions, Boss-honey," Lussuria groaned sleepily, coming back to wakefulness. "Cramps that you had should be gone though, they were caused by toxins. Had to sedate Bel, should hate me when he wakes up. I'm going back to sleep...'" He was out the moment his head hit the pillow once more.  
Squalo resisted the urge to cackle; weak as he was, Xanxus' usually blood-curdling glare looked more like an angry kitten's. He couldn't conceal the bubbling of mirth in his Flames though, not at this proximity, and Xanxus jerked on his hair.

"VOI! Boss! No steak for you, doctor's orders, voi! How do you like your rice? OW! Stoppit, voi!"

* * *

 **Blame Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer for this chapter.**

 **When Artemis makes a deal with a fairy, he turns to leave because 'several centuries worth of alcohol poisoning leaving the body by any means necessary, is not a pretty sight.'**


	8. Chapter 8

**Can't...stop...writing...this story...**

 **Also, more Angst!...Yay?**

* * *

"You've been delayed?" Reborn asked. "What happened? Did the CEDEF find out?"

"No, Mammon's got them running in circles for us," Squalo's tired voice came from the phone. "Boss still isn't fully recovered from his stint as an icicle; he keeled over. We had to stop at a motel and stay up taking care of him until ridiculous o' clock in the morning. We're all exhausted, but we should get to Namimori by...late this afternoon, if everything goes smoothly from here on."

"Send ETA regularly. We'll expect you," Reborn replied smoothly.  
"Will do."

The entire breakfast congregation was silent for a moment. "Well, that sucks," Quicklime said awkwardly. The silence broken, everyone resumed eating, if a little more subdued than before. Until Mukuro let out a garbled shriek, making everyone jump and reached for their weapons.

"Inverted!" He cried victoriously. "That was what I was thinking of! Squalo Superbi is an Inverted Rain, so he has opposite personality attributes to what a Rain should be. That's true for other Flames, so isn't the Commander an Inverted Sky?"

You could have heard a pin drop.

"Shit." Reborn said finally.

"Skies care for others, have massive charisma, are generally very personable and also aware of the feelings of others, which makes them good leaders," Dino expanded hollowly. "Flip it, and you get no care for others, sociopathic tendencies, poor leadership and little-to-no charisma. Iemitsu in a nutshell...Fuck. How did no-one notice?"

"We seem to be asking that question a lot lately," Reborn muttered, staring into his coffee cup as if it held the answers of the universe. "I looked some things up and Iemitsu's a textbook Narcissist. No wonder he's never had a Bond of any kind, yet somehow managed to activate; nobody would be able to relate to him at all. But how are you kids the only ones who felt something wrong with his Flames? Come to think of it, how can his Flames be wrong? Inverted Rains are still Rains and so on, so why do his Flames feel off?"

They shrugged, or made puzzled, noncommittal noises.

Chrome chewed her toast thoughtfully, swallowing and taking a draught of tea before asking her question. "But you can't be born a Narcissist, it's learned. So his Flames aren't inverted, just his personality?"

At that, Takeshi swore long and loud in a very diverse and creative manner. "Sorry," he said breathlessly. "But if he Activated as a normal Sky, then his mind began changing, the Flames would be twisted in a way they weren't supposed to work, but they do because that's his Will. That's why he's all rotten; he's not Inverted at all! Just broken...feels more like imploded, actually..."

Silence descended once more as all of them ruminated on the theory and found everything dropping into place.

"Fuck, squared," Dino said morosely. After that, the last few minutes of the meal were finished in a loaded silence.

* * *

"Feral."

Tsuna just sat there, not so much as a twitch.

"Tsuna?"

But he did let out a deep breath when he felt Chrome's Flames brush up worriedly against his, clinging to cracks in his façade. His Flames gently pushed hers away, patching up his barriers and prompting a soft, concerned sound from her. She walked off determinedly, leaving Hibari hovering around him and returning a few minutes later with Ryohei and Takeshi.

They all circled Tsuna hesitantly, letting themselves fall completely into the Guardian Bond, which was not-quite the Hivemind State. They needed Tsuna to activate that, but this was close enough to ease into his Flames and send their feelings of _safe_ , _worry_ and _determined_ over the Bond. He relaxed a little, letting them come close and physically touch him. Light, careful touches, as if they were afraid he would break apart any second as he used to do when he was all black on the inside.

"Hate," Chrome analysed.

"Self-hate," Hibari clarified, a frown creasing his brow.

"Pity and guilt," Ryohei said in his 'normal voice', which had rubbed off on him from the others' personalities while in the Hivemind.

"Responsibility," Takeshi added, better at sensing the more nuanced emotions due to his Rain Affinity. He reached his Flames out, only for them to be batted away, which sent a tingle of dread down his spine. Tsuna was sensible enough to accept Rain Flames when they were offered, and to ask for them, because he knew a clear head was always a necessity and him making decisions based on emotion was a luxury none of them could afford.

If he was rejecting them though...if Tsuna had another one of his so-called 'Black Days' where he went into a self-conflicted emotional _mess_ \- because his heart was too _big_ and this life was _crushing_ it and making him _not want it_ \- he wouldn't be able to pull him out of it without serious intervention from the others, clear-the-rest-of-the-day style. Thank the Kami that Hibari was already here; the Cloud was First of Tsuna's Guardians and had had experience in single-handedly getting him through things when these Days had been darker and more numerous.

Even now, Hibari was using his Cloud Flames to stunt the encroaching negative feelings, hopefully to a point where Tsuna would be able to articulate his thoughts and what had triggered him, because talking did help the root cause of emotional issues rather than just destroying the symptom feelings as Flames did.  
Because what the Mafia didn't realise was that Flames gave one control over an _entire_ aspect. Which meant that you had the power to reverse it rather than simply use it as Actives usually did. For example, Hibari could Multiply things, increasing them as everyone expected, but it was basic math that he could Multiply by the negative to _decrease_ something. Which was what he was doing now.

After what seemed like ages, but was really only a minute or two, Tsuna took a deep, shuddering breath as his Sky Flames broke free of the last of the Black feelings. The sudden rush made him go boneless, but they were there to catch him and lay him down onto the grass. It seemed they had got to him in time, or maybe the new Sky-Bond had passively offset it somehow? That didn't matter; their Sky was safe from himself. Tsuna's harsh breathing soon dissolved in soft hiccups, his Flames still slightly agitated and they lay down beside him, Flames intermingling with his and waiting patiently for him to speak.

 _ **"I hate Him,"** _he projected, dull and mournful. _**"I'm a horrible person."**_

Their questioning bemusement was clear, even if there were no actual words being sent. There was no need to ask who Him was.

 _ **"He's** broken **, just like me. It's** **not** **his fault, what he's doing, but I still** hate **him, which isn't** right **because he's just** sick **."**_

Their Flames surged in anger at the subdued declaration, singing _no no not you, never you, not broken, perfecthomefamily_. But all they could do was reassure, since none of them knew what to say to refute his thoughts in a way he would accept. Until...

"Never. Never even think that again, little fish," Mukuro said, voice sharp with anguish as he blinked into existence beside them. He checked himself, smoothing out his agitated Flames and continuing in a much calmer tone. "Understanding and justifiability are different, Tsuna. His sickness makes his actions understandable, you can see how he arrived at his conclusions and so forth. It does not justify them. They are still wrong. That his mind is twisted does not make them right. You are wrong to hate him for being sick, but you are right to hate him for the actions he has taken. And never, ever, think yourself broken ever again, Tsunayoshi!"

Sky Flames roiled for an instant, before settling, calmer than ever before.  
 _ **"Thank you,"**_ they sent, and that was all that needed.

* * *

 **My Muse is still not sorry. She enjoys feeding off your feels, apparently. Hopefully she'll let me write the Varia's Arrival next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

**In which Xanxus is the one who knows exactly how dangerous Tsuna is.**

* * *

Squalo eyeballed the brat-Storm who had met them as they entered the town. The kid was jittery and listless at the same time, which made for a very odd, twitchy combination and was definitely caused by emotional feedback over a Guardian Bond. From personal, recent experience, Squalo could say that that sucked big time.

The town reeked of suburban normality, full of cardboard cut-out houses with a place for everything and everything in its place. After living most of their lives at Varia HQ, which as a rule was confusing, twisted and chock-full of subtle traps, this place was pretty jarring.

As the Storm who had introduced himself as Quicklime sat in the front passenger seat giving them directions, Sqaulo noted with a smirk that he seemed oddly fascinated by the dozing Xanxus in the back seat next to Luss and Bel. Even sleeping - all three officers didn't react the second when the sleeping became an act - , the Wrath had an arresting prescence. Come to think of it, the kid looked pretty familiar; definitely Mafia-raised, but which Family? It could wait.

Instead of a house, the brat's directions led them to a forest. They parked the car, Xanxus dropping his act and making the brat flinch backwards as he glared at him with red eyes. Lussuria soon broke the tension by cooing over the brat's silver hair and putting the kid really out of his depth, if that frozen, deadpan expression was anything to go by. Bel was giggling creepily to himself and flipping his knives in between his fingers again, clearly enjoying subtly leaning against Boss and soaking in his Flames.

Flames that curled in anticipation as they all felt a surge of Sky from the forest, serving as a beacon for them to follow. Xanxus promptly set off, Luss a few steps behind him to make sure he didn't push himself. Bel and Quicklime followed, Flames casually sniping at each other but not pushing too far due to the presence of their respective Skies. Squalo, of course, was at the back; taking a few moments to activate some of the traps on the car and also to guard the rear. While loudly complaining about being left behind to throw any watchers off the scent.

The Decimo kid's Sky Flames were emerging from the trees in a purposefully not-so-subtle scouting attempt. Frankly, the control was pretty amazing; extremely tightly contained and ready to turn vicious within a split second.

The small figure of Reborn waited for them at the treeline.  
"Tsuna's been in a right state since breakfast," he said to Xanxus. "None of them will say what set him off, or let us get near him"

Xanxus grunted, in acknowledgement, not dismissal, before flaring his Flames right to the max. Wide-eyed, they all stared at him incredulously, half-drunk on Sky, then realised that Tsuna's Flames had softened and blurred a little at the edges, more cautiously curious than anything, but not listlessly threatening like before. "I'm going alone," he announced, before they could react, and stepped into the thick mass of trees, gradually vanishing.

* * *

Xanxus passed the brat's other Guardians, going in the opposite direction. His curious sideways glance got the explanation of "Otouto said this was to be extremely explained alone," from the Sun.

The clearing was large, grassy and well-lit from above, the chatter of a distant songbird the only sound above the rustling of the leaves. The kid was sat against the trunk of a tree, the picture of composure save for tear-stained eyes.  
Recognising the invisible boundary for what it was, Xanxus took up his own seat opposite, on the other side of the glade. Good thing too, he could feel the strain on his weakened muscles, and some of his scars were starting to ache.  
Sensing the confusion at his injured appearance, he merely muttered "this is what happens when you get flash-frozen and ignored for eight years, brat."

 _ **"You didn't call me 'trash'."**_

"Like I'd call someone who could understand what I've been through 'trash'," Xanxus snorted derisively. "Mind you, Dino didn't tell me about this little telepathy trick of yours."

A sharp-edged grin spread slowly across Tsuna's face. **_"Only my Guardians know everything about me. Dino is my Onii-chan, but he only sees one side of me. But I can't hide the darkness from you, can I?"_**

"I've seen shit," Xanxus said gruffly, returning the smile. "I can't unsee it. And I recognise it when I do see it. And the pain's made us stronger. _**Harmony, right?"**_

Tsuna's smile got even more predatory, if that were possible. **_"Well done. It's very useful, this technique. Did you know that the Commander was training us to kill you and your Guardians?"_**

Instead of lashing out in shock as Tsuna had expected, the Wrath coiled tight and seething, almost a heat shimmer in the air between them. Xanxus' eyes were wide with an almost feral glee. **_"Did you know that I planned to kill you to save the Vongola from Iemitsu's tainted blood taking the helm?"_** He roared through Harmony in response, curling around the borders of the clearing as Tsuna's flared up, snarling defiantly.

 _ **"If I ever become like him, I'll free my Guardians and press my head to the barrel of your gun and invite you to pull the trigger!"**_

As the intensity of Tsuna's emotions got close to the point of his Flames losing any semblance of control, Xanxus' draconic ones flared into a searing conflagration that cocooned Tsuna's; sustaining and harbouring them in the depths of the wild sea of Flames. Whispering to the painful Blackness inside of the young Sky within their embrace, crooning about the lovely inferno that he could hold like the quivering of a taught bowstring, aching to let the intoxicating carnage wreak it's bloody path. He only had to let go and embrace the blistering heat of Fury.

Beams of Pure Sky pierced the Wrath Flame's heart from the inside, radiating out like a splintered supernova as Tsuna turned down the offer. As the Flames nuzzled against each other and parted, the dynamic shifted, and something _clicked._

When both Skies turned their focus to the real world, they found the clearing undisturbed, saved for the charred circles of grass upon which they now sat.

 _ **"Oh, I am definitely keeping you!"**_ Xanxus projected as he laughed.

 _ **"How long have you been keeping** _**your** _**little secret?"**_ Tsuna snarked back, getting to his feet. Xanxus looked only too delighted at the observation.

"I thought you would notice that about my Flames," he purred in his normal voice, eyes alight with an almost drunkenly amiable fire. "And I noticed exactly where most of these trees came from. I like your style."

 _ **"The yakuza learned to never go up against Harmony inside a forest,"**_ Tsuna shrugged, patting the bark of the tree next to him, a smirk creasing his face. _**"Not that they'll ever have the chance to apply the lesson."**_

* * *

 **Yay, update!**

 **RL deadlines suck.**

 **Also, I recommend the fic Black Sky by Umei no Mai, if you haven't read it already. I've done a bunch of fanart for it as well over on my Deviantart under the username Slyfoxcub.**


	10. Chapter 10

**In which Lussuria is now Team Mom and Lambo hacks the universe**

* * *

Lussuria would be the first to admit that he liked pretty things, whether they were objects or people. Admittedly, his habit of collecting such things tended to stretch past certain moral and ethical boundaries, but he was _Varia._ Such things were considered minor details. Nevertheless, he took almost Cloud-like pride in the people he kept around him; he was Cloud Tertiary after all. It was the Sun Primary in him though, that made him lavish everyone with endearments; no matter how annoying some found it, it was a source of morale for many.

His insistence on being referred to as 'nee-chan' or variants thereof was something of a comfort, familiar. He had found much work doing menial labour in brothels and bordellos and had many fond memories of the familial atmosphere and hierarchy. Fond enough to kill for; it was how the Varia had found him.

The point was, he _liked_ having people to take care of and generally fuss over. Even more so when they obviously needed help. Particularly when it was kids like he had been, like Xanxus, all rough and scrappy and so very _hungry_ for something they couldn't quite name.

The little Storm, with the Soave hair like Squa-chan's but with a different skull structure, was so endearingly rough and fierce. The two Mists...siblings, no, but the resemblance was adorable. The little Lightning though, was all kinds of cute. And also very young. Incredibly young. Now Lussuria was angry, but that could wait. Because Boss-honey was engaged in truly impressive negotiations with the little Sky who had such a peculiar resemblance to Primo. He just hoped Boss didn't strain himself; he was still recovering!

Sidling over to the little Rain, Lussuria sat down and murmured "so, dear, what's your Sky like?" He got an odd look in return. "Why all the suspicion, dear?" He asked again, as if hurt by the unspoken accusations. "Our Skies are on the brink of reaching some sort of understanding, from what I can gather, so I might as well know what sort of company I'll be keeping."

"Otouto fixes things...people," the adorable little Sun said, the taped knuckles indicating a fellow bare-handed combat artist. "He finds people who are Extremely broken and binds them up again." By now, everyone else is listening in, curiosity gnawing at them.

"Compressed," the male Mist said, after a few seconds of intense thought. "Has to be steel, can't feel, not allowed, because that leads to consequences. Can't fly because we can't go with him like this, and he refuses to leave us behind."

"We chain him to the ground," the female Mist added. "But we still fall, like moths to a candle, because our souls crave him."

"So real, more real than real life," the little Storm muttered dreamily. "Like a diamond in a world made of smoke."

The Rain didn't say anything, but instead exchanged a loaded glance with his fellow Guardians, one hand scrunching up his shirt over his heart absentmindedly.

The Cloud snorted derisively, before shrugging in baffled acquiescence. "He's mine," he said imperiously, as if it needed no other explanation.

"Tsuna-nii is the best!" Crowed the tiny Lightning. "He comes up with all sorts of cool tricks for Lambo-sama to try! Now Lambo-sama is the best at hide-and-seek!" The last statement prompted fond eye-rolling from the other Guardians, while Reborn frowned to himself.

"Come to think of it, Lambo, why have I barely noticed you these past few days?"

"What do you think the Lightning aspect of Hard means?" The little Rain shot back, addressing all of them with a smug grin.

"Strength, shielding, protection, density...what is this little cub getting at?" Belphegor rattled off.

"English lessons at school tipped us off," the Rain, Shuinsen, that was it, shot back. "In English, it doesn't just mean density, but also difficulty. Fulgurite likes to make himself Hard to see, among other things."

The implications of using Lightning Flames in such a way hit all of them like a freight train.

"Hard to see, Hard to find, Hard to hit, Hard to kill...'" Squalo babbled in his epiphany. "Dear fuck, you've got an unstoppable fighter!" He was cut off by an eel hitting him in the face with a wet slap.  
"No swearing," the female Mist chirps as her not-twin beams fondly at her. Squalo unwound the eel from around his neck and threw it to the ground, where it dissipated with a puff of smoke, leaving him to rub at the streaks of slime on his face with angry grumbles.

A snicker of laughter conveyed through Wrath Flames reached them, making all whip their heads round.

Both skies were emerging from the treeline, Xanxus walking a little stiffly with his arm around the shoulders of the comparatively tiny Tsunayoshi. Immediately, Lussuria rose to his feet and walked over to take the weight and examine his Boss. Only to stiffen suddenly, Sun Flames seething across his skin, piercing gaze landing upon Tsuna. Before he could even move a muscle, Xanxus stepped between them both, staring Lussuria down with both red eyes and Wrath.

"But Boss, your scars-"

"Fixed, mostly," Xanxus rumbled. "Brat used Harmony to blend the scar-tissue into the normal skin. Eye's better as well."

Frowning to himself, Lussuria gently threaded his Flames into Xanxus' body, scanning him right down to the bone. A few things pinged against his senses and he sucked in a breath. "You are not healing anyone else, including yourself, until you've taken extensive lessons and we've done extensive testing on the healing properties of Harmony, _do you understand?_ "

Tsuna bared his teeth into something that was almost a snarl. **"I have to fix this!"**

"Boss-honey, he literally reached into your DNA to use it as a template. The scarring from the Zero Point Break is mostly gone, but so are all your other scars and roughly 17% of the muscle memory and mass you used to have. You are now technically ambidextrous instead of right-handed and your alcohol tolerance is gone. He _fixed_ you a little too much in the wrong places."

Tsuna visibly wilted, if only slightly. Xanxus' hand landed heavily on his head, Flames purring as he pulled the boy into his side. "Can't fix everything," he rumbled. "Still mad though; I like drinking."  
Tsuna giggled sheepishly, a soft, hiccupping sound. **"** **Sorry. But you're mine; I couldn't stand the scars since you didn't like them either."**

"What's with the telepathy, Boss? Oh...Harmony, right? Kid, why did you say that Boss is 'yours'?"

A little ways away, Reborn overheard and groaned. "Not again...'"


	11. Chapter 11

**It's ALIIIIIIVVVVEEE!**

 **In which there are many hostages. This was going to be a plot chapter, but ended up being Squalo and Xanxus fluff. But also plot on why Xanxus merely has a boatload of Issues rather than being functionally broken like in canon.**

* * *

"This is f-screwed up," Squalo corrected himself hastily at Lionfish's pointed stare.

The silence carried the agreement of everyone with that statement. All stared at the whiteboard in the centre of the room, which Shrike the creepy male Mist had helpfully conjured, bearing a list of all the hostage situations these kids were wrapped up in.

Firstly, Taiyang the Sun had a younger sister who had mysteriously won a scholarship to one of the most prestigious schools in Japan, almost immediately after her brother had Bonded to Tsuna.

Second, Quicklime's mentor, Trident Shamal, had suffered a mysterious 'accident' while doing a quick job for the CEDEF, who had offered to pay the hospital bill and arrange a guard on him for, quote 'as long as it took' unquote.

Third, Shuinsen the Rain had a father who had retired from the hitman game to become a sushi chef. Takeshi had been sent a message that informed him that information on his father's whereabouts, routine and suppliers was on standby to be sent to all of the man's many enemies.

Fourth, Carnivore the Cloud had had his beloved pet bird stolen and regularly received photos and feathers as proof of life. Which only served to put the boy even more on edge. The Varia had collectively winced at this one; one does not simply steal from a Cloud.

Fifth, the CEDEF was holding the two 'childhood' friends of Mukuro Rokudo on some trumped-up charges purposefully buried under a mountain of paperwork. The aptly named 'Shrike' and his female counterpart pretty much counted themselves as interchangeable, so the threat worked for both of them.

Fulgurite the juvenile Lightning was the only one who wasn't wrapped up in a hostage situation. However, his death had been faked by someone, essentially leaving him a non-entity with all the lack of rights that anonymity entailed.

"Any of you brats got anyone those bastards haven't got under their thumbs?" Xanxus rumbled from the couch. Squalo wasn't sure what to make of the brat-Sky being sprawled on top of his Wrath like that. Then again, if this was anything like the other times Xanxus had bonded, then it made sense for him to be so touchy-feely; for someone who was fluent in so many languages, Xanxus had never been good with words.  
The brat-Cloud was positively vibrating where he sat at the sight, anger brimming in his eyes and poised to leap. And to top it off, Xanxus was _baiting_ the little maniac with sly sideways glances every time the brat-Sky shifted his position.

However, that soon ended when, in response to Xanxus' question, the brats' heads turned to the brat-Cloud, who merely glowered at them.  
 _ **"Kyouya has an uncle. Active Storm. Enforcer for the Triads."**_

"As long as he stays in their patch, he should be fine," Lussuria said. "They don't like the CEDEF and they're perfectly capable of rebuffing them. But he can't come here."

"I'll get Mammon to look into some things tomorrow," Xanxus groaned. "Everyone, bed. Before I shoot the lot of you."

The brat-Cloud promptly dived for his brat-Sky and the whole brat-pack buggered off upstairs. Dino muttered his farewell and left too. At another sharp, red glare, the Varia Officers began to file off, no doubt to sort themselves out a hotel somewhere.

Squalo would have left with them, only for Xanxus to grab his hand, holding him in place. "Shark. Stay."

* * *

Once the others were safely out of earshot, Squalo let himself be manhandled onto the couch until he was laid across his Sky's lap, reclining on his chest.  
"Jealous?" He felt the question vibrate through Xanxus' chest just as much as he heard it. What was he...oh.

"Of the brat-Sky? No," he snorted half-heartedly. "Don't like _this_ ," he clarified, cupping his Sky's jaw where the jagged scars had been. "It's like it never happened, like it doesn't matter. As if the pain was just imagined."

Calloused fingers carded through his hair. "Mammon and Luss kept records, told me...," Xanxus swallowed hoarsely. "Sorry...I never...you were hurting so much...'"

And it had hurt, but not really. Which, in a way, had made it even worse. All throughout getting his guts sewn back in in the Infirmary of the Iron Fort before being shoved off back to the Varia, it had been an aching numbness. Like his insides were being squeezed with kid gloves. And throughout the Varia's brief house-arrest, which was the time it took for the initial shock to wear off, it had persisted.  
Then, without warning, he had been hauled in front of the Ninth; prosthetic missing, not even in uniform, straining his stitches as he was manhandled into a hard wooden chair and informed that he would be Head of the Varia, and that they had better keep their collective heads down or those heads would quite literally roll. The cold barrel of a gun had even been pressed behind his ear, when he couldn't even formulate the words to speak.

His knee-jerk reaction had been to turn his Rain Flames in on himself, to shut down his own organs and just end it all. What was the point of trying to move on now that his Sky was dead? The Old Man's shocked expression just before Squalo keeled over and blacked out had been kind of funny. But of course, they couldn't have the decency to let him die. He woke up to the sickening stench of hospital cleaning fluids and the Old Man whispering in his ear; laying the cloying, necrotising hope that Xanxus was still alive.

And so began his half-life. He got out of bed because Xanxus had always hated laziness. He ate, even though all food tasted ashy in his mouth, because he needed to be there when Xanxus came back. He trained because Xanxus would want to spar when he came back. He led the Varia because it needed to be strong for when Xanxus came back.  
As two, then three years passed, it got worse. He began to loathe the sickening ball of hope inside of him because it made him hear echoes of Xanxus here and there; some gunshots sounded like his twin X-guns, a glass would break and sound like it had been thrown against a wall, someone's snort of laughter would sound just like his for a split second.

So Squalo trained or did paperwork until he collapsed face-down in exhaustion, because that way he wouldn't dream. Once or twice he drank himself into oblivion and revelled in the searing pain of the resulting hangovers because it meant he still felt something other than the numbing disassociation that kept a tight grip on his heart.

Nearly four years into Xanxus' 'exile', the Ninth had nearly had a heart attack when he found the doors to the basement where Xanxus was kept, open. Expecting to find a frantic extraction team, he nearly didn't see the limp form of Squalo Superbi lying wrapped in a blanket, huddled on his side on the cold floor. Closer, careful inspection had revealed shallow breathing and open eyes staring blankly ahead into the block of ice.  
For with Iemitsu constantly in Japan training his son, Lal Mirch had gotten the CEDEF to top efficiency. So the Varia had never had to pick up any slack, and Squalo had been cursed with enough free time to wallow himself into a subconscious stupor. Under the influence of which, he proceeded to get himself to Xanxus' ice, and with almost comically alarming consistency.

But of course, Zero Point Breakthrough absorbed Flames, so it wasn't like Squalo's presence could have any sort of effect...right? But considering that Squalo's eyes always looked a little clearer, and shoulders lighter, for a brief period every time he emerged from the darkened room...well. It wasn't like Zero Point had ever been _rigorously_ tested, not against Wrath Skies, a Guardian Bond with a Wrath, so maybe there was something...'

Squalo didn't realise that tears were dripping down his cheeks until Xanxus brushed them away.  
"Sometimes I could feel you while I was in there. Don't know how, but I could. It was like I could breathe again," he said roughly, wrapping his Sky Flames around them both. As Xanxus slid his arms lightly around his shoulders, settling down firmly over his spine, Squalo felt a hitch in his breathing. God, how he'd _missed_ this.

Because the streets and the whorehouses had taught Xanxus that sex was just something people did to burn off energy, verbal promises were just meaningless words, everyone belonged to someone and actions were all that mattered. No wonder that he never wasted much time on words and let his Flames do the talking. He and the brat-Sky had that in common, at least.

And, in retrospect, every one of Xanxus' Guardians showed emotions physically or in clear-cut codes. Lussuria picked his endearments and forms of address depending on how he was feeling toward you. Mammon did everything by what discount they were willing to give. Belphegor would drape himself over the furniture and generally behave like a cat. Levi was just weird and got a bit too grabby for comfort. And Squalo...well, cutting off his own hand and giving the Varia to Xanxus _had_ been kind of drastic; but he soon came to enjoy just lazing around and soaking in Xanxus' Flames and affection. And between medical appointments after being frozen, and catching up on all the bureaucratic shit, there just hadn't been time.

"You left," Squalo half-mumbled, half-sobbed into Xanxus' collar, unravelled and drunk on Sky Flames. "You weren't _there_."

"Not leaving ever again," Xanxus gnarred, tilting his head to nuzzle into his Rain's hair, his heavy breathing sending the soft, shorter silver hairs on his temple fluttering. "Not gonna hurt you like that again. Mine. Always." Flames surged down their Bond.

Ah, fuck. Squalo doubted he was going to be properly alert come morning. Harmony with his Sky was always amazing, but the factor of Xanxus being a Wrath meant his Harmony was a touch more volatile. Instead of just the infamous feeling of _home_ and _mine_ and _belonging_ , Wrath amped it up to fifteen and turned you into a puddle of emotional goo. And unlike being drunk on Sky Flames, which was external, this was internal and much harder to shake off.

One of the few times Squalo had witnessed the effect on someone else, was when Belphegor got back from a mission, mentally shaken. A hug from Xanxus and a massive dose of Wrath Harmony had turned him into burbling, sobbing putty against Xanxus' chest; he had woken up the next day a little wobbly but otherwise back to his old blood-thirsty self.

Squalo was going to be a _mess_. And was going to love Every Fucking _Second_.

* * *

The raucous thunder of feet broke the usually still atmosphere of the Sawada household the next morning. Reborn was up, dressed and gun loaded the second that the pack of children snapped their eyes open at six in the morning like clockwork, stared at each other incredulously in silent communication over a closed link and stampeded for the sitting room.

Reborn followed, of course, joining them in finding Xanxus di Varia sprawled on the couch, his Second-in-command a limp, tear-stained puddle on his chest. One red eye opened at the intrusion, but the swordsman didn't so much as twitch. Curious.

 ** _"We didn't have nightmares."_**

It's a loaded statement, a spinning bullet disguising the fragile fluttering of hope.


	12. Chapter 12

**Welp, first the Bleach fandom broke open my ribcage with Walk Two Lifetimes(not looking forward to the next leg of the plot because I'm going to empathy squick so bad), My Little Pony pulled out my heart and intestines with Maternal Instinct(yes, kids show, this fic isn't and disabled-child-family-drama and Royal!AUs make me _bawl_ ), then KHR! used The Baker's Daughter(Yandere-esque romance done right, badass yakuza OC and damn my weakness for abused-child-family-drama!) to brutally crush my heart into tiny pieces and scatter them on the floor.**

 **I...I need pointless fluff.**

* * *

"I didn't do anything," Xanxus retorted over breakfast. "Getting rid of nightmares is more of a Rain-trick than any other Flame."

"Sky and Storm, right," Dino muttered in agreement, before catching the amused glance between Tsuna and Xanxus. "What?"

 _ **"He really thinks you're just a Stormy Sky?"**_

"Few people don't," Xanxus grunted, nibbling morosely at a bowl of miso soup and rice under the watchful eye of Lussuria. "Most just never bother to confirm it; others can't wrap their heads around it."

"Flames other than the primary seven do exist," Reborn added. "But the only one I know about and have had experience with, seen from a distance really, is the Night Flame of the Vindice. I guess I can add a second to the list. What does Wrath activate with, Xanxus?"

"Rejection," he growled after some hesitation. "Regret isn't enough, like with normal Sky. You see pain and suffering, feel it, and you say no. You say _no more._ _I reject you; cease to exist._ " Even as he spoke, his eyes glowed.

"Wrath Flames, at their purest, don't burn, they disassemble," Lussuria added. "Boss prefers adding them and a touch of Sky to bullets for piercing power, but if you just light something...dust is all that's left. Even DNA."

"I..." Dino said slowly, "feel appropriately terrified now. And now I know why Secondo had unanimously the strongest Flame in the Vongola's history."

Squalo wandered back in, from where he had been talking quietly(!) into a phone in a rambling polyglot mixture of Mandarin, Corsican and Quebecois French with a dose of slang and nonsense words. "Voi! Boss, brats. We can get you on the plane tonight. I've already got Mists picking up your nearest and dearest, so pack whatever you got to take with you. You've got the next two hours."

Shock rippled through the room.

"Like fuck I'm leaving you here," Xanxus growled in answer to the unasked question.

In a furious scrabble, the kids dispersed, leaving an almost-afterimage of unprecedented joy behind them in the room.

Lussuria squealed delightedly. "We're keeping them, Boss?!" A slanted side-eye was his answer and he squealed again in delight, running after the nearest brat, presumably to help them get their things in order. Belphegor took advantage of the vacated seat, to immediately occupy it and lean against his Sky's shoulder, giggling ominously.

Being one of the few left at the breakfast table, Dino carefully continued eating and avoiding meeting the eyes staring at him.

"They'll be staying at the Varia, Horse." The unspoken challenge hung in the air. Dino took a hold of it with both hands.

"And you'll be accused of kidnapping? In your current condition, you'll never survive the ice a second time."

A growl. The _shing!_ of knives. The faint click of a prosthetic hand tensing. "The Cavallone taking them? Kidnapping them?"

"Reborn _asked_ for me," Dino bit out, raising his head to meet red eyes. "You _showed up_ , with seemingly no reason to treat them well. What will seem most likely?"

"They're _killers_ , Horse. Even the baby-Sky. Especially him." Xanxus' teeth bared in a mirthless smile; too many teeth.

Dino froze at the revelation, little things falling into place. But he merely tilted his chin defiantly. "You think I'm going to run from that?"

A sudden understanding passed between them, as Xanxus' dark chuckle resounded through the room. "Fuck; he got us both good, didn't he? You haven't tripped once in all this time."

Oh.

* * *

Fon noticed Reborn. Reborn noticed Fon. The Curse made sure of that.

While Dino and Xanxus had their little pissing contest, the Hitman slipped out to meet his colleague-in-misfortune on the town boundary.

"Viper told me," were Fon's first words, the abandoned customary greetings a tell-tale sign despite the benevolent façade. "Do not stand against me."

"I'll roll out the red carpet and hand out popcorn," Reborn scoffed. "And you're a bit late; Xanxus di Varia got here, took a shine to Tsuna and is taking all of them back to Italy tonight. And guess what," he met Fon's eyes with a sharp, questing stare. "Tsuna's a Transcendent. He's Harmonised with both Dino and Xanxus. And their Guardians, by proxy. Which makes him practically Viper's Sky."

The information sank in, but did not quite register; Fon's eyes glowing a bright and bloody crimson as his shadow warped. Lantern Warning. "My nephew. **N** _o **w**_."

Then, like a thunderbolt from a wrathful god, Hibari arrived, a spectre of bared teeth and purple fire slamming into Fon's inferno and the resulting flare making Reborn duck behind the nearest house, until the clash abruptly died down.

"Yuánliàng wǒ," Fon was shaking, his small form buried in his nephew's sternum. "Wǒ méi kàn dào, yuánliàng wǒ." Hibari awkwardly wrapped his arm around his uncle as his own chest began to heave, silently burying his face in the mop of dark hair so like his own. Lichi, Fon's animal companion, snuggled into the boy's neck, chattering softly and gently pawing at his hair.  
"Never before have I hated this Curse so much," Fon breathed, "that I cannot hold my nephew in my arms. Wàishēng, my child, let me turn the Vongola to dust for what they have done to all of you, wǒ qiú qiú nǐ."

"I want Hibird." Fon stilled. Ah yes, the little canary whose egg his nephew had found in a half-crushed nest, and had taken home to hatch and raise. Whose long lifespan was definitely tied to Hibari's Cloud Flames and his affection for it. The bird who adored the boy and had been cruelly taken from him.  
"Truly I say to you today, it shall be done."

* * *

Kyoko Sasagawa lay very, _very_ still despite her heart racing fit to burst. You were supposed to stay still and not provoke your kidnappers. And the fact that all of them didn't speak Japanese was not helping since she couldn't understand what they were saying when they looked at her and smiled wickedly.

A small comfort was that she was allowed to toilet independently, and she was fed and only her hands and feet were bound at other times. And not once had the two men leered at her, and there was a fellow woman as the third kidnapper who seemed to be in charge.

Kyoko wondered where this plane was going exactly; would country were they taking her to? And who, with enough money to own a private plane and a uniformed trio of kidnappers, would want a scholarship student from a backwater town?

A mobile phone rang, and the woman answered it, after looking at the caller ID and snapping at her colleague to stop talking. Answered, in Japanese.

"Captain!...Without a hitch, yeah...sensible, hasn't put a toe out of line, she's fed and watered...Nah, victims of complacency; the watchers never saw us coming...ETA for landing in two hours, ETA four hours for HQ, had to divert due to air traffic...Will do, Captain...Boss feeling better then?" She exchanged grins with her two compatriots. "Brilliant...yeah, I'll check in with Mammon in a bit." She hung up.  
"Well boys, we're coming home, but we're a way yet. Yo, kiddo!"

Kyoko jerked at being addressed, her heart beating like a rabbit's.

"Look, I don't know what the Boss wants with you, but you got friends in high places if _he_ wants you. And at HQ too!" The woman grinned, the friendly gesture greatly marred by the burn scar on her cheek that exposed the tendons beneath. "Boss says everything will be explained to you, but in the meantime,..." she pulled out a deck of playing cards, shuffling and snapping them out like a fan, in one hand. "You can call me Gléck. Know how to play Go Fish?"

* * *

Yuánliàng wǒ = Forgive me  
Wǒ méi kàn dào = I did not see  
Wàishēng = Nephew  
Wǒ qiú qiú nǐ = I beg you

Gléck = Luck (Luxembourgish)


	13. Chapter 13

**So, I never really bought that Leviathan was Xanxus' Guardian. More likely he was just the strongest and blindly loyal the Varia had, and his obsession was fuelled by the apparent acknowledgement.**

* * *

Kyoko woke up and was immediately disorientated at waking up since she hadn't registered falling asleep. The wom-no, her kidnapper, she amended furiously, knowing what Stockholm Syndrome was, was patting her shoulder.

"C'mon, kid, up you get. We're letting you get off the plane and into the car under your own power," she smiled, unbuckling the restraint that had held Kyoko to the seat while she slept. "Then we're going to put you to sleep again, but only for a few hours so we can get you to HQ. No exceptions, I'm afraid, despite your good behaviour."

Kyoko tottered a little as she got to her feet and walked obediently to the plane's hatch and waiting steps.

The sky was overcast, the wind moaning through the airfield that was deserted save for their plane, a ground crew in the same black uniforms as her kidnappers, and a nondescript black car idling a little ways away. A few spots of rain dappled the tarmac and her sudden desire for a warm coat reminded her that she had only the clothes on her back.  
As if she had read her mind, the woman spoke up again as she guided her gently down the steps. "We've got a few sets of your clothes with us, to make it look like you to planned to run away from your campus. You'll be provided with new clothes should you be lacking."

"Why am I here?" Kyoko spoke up, her stress coming to a head. "I haven't...I'm no one."

Gléck shrugged. "Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die," she quoted nonchalantly. "As far as we're concerned, you're a...reluctant guest of the Boss, not a prisoner. Boss is Boss, not to mention he's a good one, and I had no objection to my orders." _'This is not the worst thing I've done'_ went unspoken, but hung heavy in the air nonetheless.

"Now, car," Gléck nodded toward the vehicle.

* * *

Everyone knows that Mists are tricksy and fickle twisters of reality.

There is a spectrum, but this is true.

Everyone knows that the Varia are killers.

That statement is a little too broad.

The Varia is the Right Arm of the Vongola, it's iron fist of power, striking terror into it's foes with a splatter of gore and a whisper of air. Quality.

But when subtlety is needed, you call a Mist. When you need abject terror with no trace, you call a Varia Mist.

For what better alibi than a suicide? A double-edged one, to be sure, because sudden spirals into lunacy and hallucinations until the victim seeks sanctuary in a bullet through the cranium or palate, can only be the work of a specialized, Quality, Mist.

According to the Varia, Dyrehage was an impish little pixie who spent way too much time using her(one of the few Varia who accepted female pronouns while on-duty) abilities for entertainment. Regardless, she was known for being quite amiable and straightforward most of the time.

It was probably why the other Divisions favoured her; she was easier to deal with than most Mists.

Hence why she was dubbed the best choice to bring in Tsuyoshi Yamamoto. Or at least, keep everyone alive until someone with actual authority did some quick smooth-talking because she was actually a rather weak Mist, just an efficient one, please, someone help.

Fortunately, Takeshi Yamamoto arrived to the tense standoff before the relative peace could be broken.

Dyrehage frowned at the implications of the ensuing conversation, tuning out most of the words in favour of body language. The boy had been blackmailed into staying away from his own father, save for scheduled and carefully monitored lessons in the sword. There was relief, yes, but the separation had obviously grown much hesitancy and tension between the two until they reacted as if the other was practically a stranger.

This would not do.

If there was one thing she was good at, it was being distracting.

Reaching for her Flame, she pulled it into physicality and moulded it into a shape she used so often it took only a second and was as easy as breathing. Her Conjuration skittered across the floor on two long, thin legs and wrapped his trunk around Takeshi Yamamoto's knee in an affectionate nuzzle.

"Is that an elephant?" Tsuyoshi asked tentatively.

"No." Of course he wasn't. He was a Mist Construct and had completely different proportions to the real animal. But if he was asking what she had based him on; "but yes."

* * *

Xanxus hadn't personally met the Varia known as Dyrehage, having been more occupied with the more offensive and powerful Mists before the Cradle Affair, but he knew of her. She was one of Mammon's little favourites, with her menagerie of Constructs that were so detailed that they even had independent action. Her specialty was terror campaigns, her beasts stalking targets, picking them off one by one in gory fashion or haunting residences until the targets gave up or killed themselves.  
Her efficiency and imagination made up for small reserves, so it was peculiar that she had been sent on a retrieval mission of this calibre.

"Mammon."

"Boss?" The miser answered the phone.

"Dyrehage; why did you send her? Wrong skillset."

"Leviathan has been antagonistic to pretty much everyone, ever since you left Boss. She's the only one that's actually tried to kill him though. Normally, I wouldn't mind, but she has the wrong Flame to head Lightning Division and I'm not sorting another workload on top of my own and Ottabio's until we find a decent replacement. For the both of them."

Xanxus sighed, mentally sorting through what Varia he knew and their capabilities. "Kṣura and Unkraut can take some of Cloud Division's work. Levi's done. I'm through with him. He was never my Guardian anyway and this sort of obsession, and willingness to ignore it, isn't Quality. Detain him until I get back; Klin can take up most of the work, he's a Squad Leader anyhow."

"You owe me for creating guest rooms inside the actual mansion, Boss. We're an assassination outfit, not a hotel."

A wicked grin that wouldn't have looked out of place on a shark curled across Xanxus' face. "That reminds me; call back the team you sent after the pet bird in CEDEF HQ. But you might want to post surveillance. The baby Cloud just sicced his uncle on them. Triad Enforcer, the Storm Arcobaleno."

There was a moment of silence. Then; "I'll consider the expenditure for rooming, paid. I want the cost of the inevitably damaged cameras repaid though."

* * *

 **Dyrehage (Norwegian)= Zoo**

 **Kṣura (Bengali)= Razor**

 **Unkraut (German)= Weed**

 **Klin (Russian)= Wedge**


End file.
